Longtime Ago People
In a world where family connections shape us, stories bridge generations. Many of us carry cherished memories of those who touched our lives, which I think deserve to be shared.
Each episode I hope will feature guests recounting touching, funny, and inspiring memories, celebrating the impact these individuals had on their lives. I aim to beautifully remember loved ones, offering listeners nostalgia, warmth, and connection.
I am looking for people to reflect on the impact of these relationships.
Longtime Ago People
Ten Conversations, One Journey: Season One Epilogue
What happens when we pause to truly listen to the stories that shaped us? As Season One draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on ten conversations that revealed how seemingly small decisions can dramatically alter the course of family destinies across generations.
When I began this podcast a few months ago, I had no clear destination—only a quiet curiosity about the turning points tucked inside ordinary lives. I started with my own family, and soon discovered how my grandfather’s move from smoggy 1930s London to the Isle of Wight—on a doctor’s recommendation—completely changed our trajectory. Had he not made that move, my mother would never have met my father. The recordings I made with my aunt (now 89) and my mum have become even more precious, especially as both have faced health challenges since we spoke.
From there, the journey widened. I listened to stories of adventure, loss, and unexpected legacies. Gary left the rat race behind for rhinos and solo Pacific crossings. John unknowingly fulfilled his late father’s dreams in Spain. Moray shared the complexities of growing up with a jazz legend for a dad. I revisited school dormitories with Bas, proving that some friendships truly never fade. And I honoured lives cut short—like Andy’s brother Simon, whose everyday kindness left a quietly profound legacy, and David’s father, remembered through fragments of wartime heroism passed down through generations.
Each conversation reminded me that memory isn’t just about preserving the past—it’s about what we choose to carry forward. These ordinary yet extraordinary lives show how the smallest moments and choices ripple through time.
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"In a world where you can be anything, be kind."
you're listening to miles, and this is the epilogue of season one. A long time ago, people, when I started this a few months ago, I had no idea where it was going to take me, and I still don't, to be honest. But I've now done my well. I've now completed my season one, which consists of 10 episodes. I found myself reflecting on the voices, the memories and the quiet revelations that each of these 10 episodes give to us, each conversation. I think I had offered a glimpse into the life's lift and the courage and the humor and heart. I'm just going to have a quick, very quick reflect, or a quick look back on the 10 episodes. I started off. Really, my first three episodes were very close members of my family my aunt, my mother and my aunt's friend, auntie Brenda. What was really interesting about talking to my aunt? She basically her father, my grandfather moved from a very, very smoggy London in the 1930s down to the Isle of Wight based on a doctor's warning, and that changed our family's destiny forever. Because had my grandfather not made that decision, or my grandparents not made that decision, then my mum would have never met my father. So this is the sort of thing I was looking for digging into things that really really did shape families' destinies. As I've already said, that's where I started with talking to my aunt Chrissy. I then carried that conversation on into part two with my mother, where she again tells me her side of the same story. It was quite interesting because there was some things that were very similar and some things that were very, very different when you're talking to two sisters. Both those two initial interviews I did last year, in 2024. Since then, both my aunt and my mum have had some health issues. So I'm so glad and they're fine, I'm so glad that I recorded those when I did last year. And again coming back to my aunt, I mean my aunt was 89 last Saturday, so it's amazing that she was, that they moved for her health and for her life way back then and that she's 89 and still fairly darn strong.
Speaker 0:In my third episode I talked to Brenda, who was a friend of my aunt, and we revisited their 50-year friendship, which started when they worked together in a maternity ward. Their friendship has been sustained by mischief, I think, travel and timeless trust. These three ladies form part of what's called the great generation and they are so well named. This generation just get on with things. They don't moan, they don't complain. They just live their lives. They are a remarkable generation and we all owe so much to this generation. Make no mistake about that.
Speaker 0:Then I spoke to Carl about his, his brother, gary. He's very, very much alive. He's only a couple years older than him. Carl has some fantastic stories about his brother. He's talked about him over the many years. I'm really glad that we've pinned this down. And so what happens when a lad from manchester trains in the rat race for rhinos, lion attacks and a solo pacific crossing? Well, you get gary bo.
Speaker 0:Then I was over visiting my brother-in-law in Spain and I spoke to him about my father-in-law who died, unfortunately, when he was only 52. And then John, my brother-in-law, quietly realised that he was living his father George's dream. So that was quite interesting because that was basically what all George wanted to do in his life and John was living it. And then, coming to Murray McGuffey, murray was quite an interesting one because he had quite a difficult upbringing with his father. But again, murray reflects on that. His dad was definitely dazzling difficult. He was a jazz legend. I think what I got from that was that there was echoes of love, loss and a legacy that his dad did actually leave behind.
Speaker 0:Number seven is a bit self-indulgent really. It was me talking to Aidan Basnet Bas, and we just revisited our school and the icy dormitories of Birmingham School and midnight treks across the Isle of Wight and how music got us through our school years Just sort of proves that friendships never fade. I spoke to Andy about his brother, simon, who died suddenly. He was a quiet strength within Andy's whole family. Hundreds mourned the PE teacher whose everyday kindness left a legacy far deeper than anyone could realise.
Speaker 0:Moving on to probably my emotional, most emotional conversation with my auntie, ingrid, where I uncovered the improbable love story of my paternal grandparents, whose post-war resilience shaped generations as well. So again, on both my mother and my father's side of the family, there's two very, very interesting stories. And lastly, my last episode is with David Williams, who lost his father when he was seven. But David's got fragments of memory from beachside sausages to wartime heroism and the quiet love that kept his dad's legacy alive across the decades. Each story reminded me that memory isn't just about the past, it's about what we choose to carry forward. I'd like to thank you for listening and for honouring these lives with me. I will be back with a season two in the not too distant future, thank you,
