This is "Mum's lap"

 or the seat just outside the door of the church my parents attended. The priest sent me this picture yesterday. He had just spent time cleaning it and re-oiling the timber. It looks new again.

That seat is just over twenty-two years old. It went into place a couple of years after my mother died. The Senior Cat loathed the idea of a headstone somewhere. He wanted something useful - and often sat on it himself.

Other people often sit on it too - and not just on Sundays. The seat gets used during the week when there are other activities at the church. Sometimes people just sit on it. Occasionally I hear about this. Some people actually refer to it as "Mum's lap". That always surprises me as my mother was not a particularly "motherly" sort of person. I cannot remember willingly sitting on her lap and neither can my siblings. I can remember sitting on the Senior Cat's lap.

I sometimes hear about it when someone tells me they have gone up there to "think". (They seem to go into the church if they want to pray.) It is a good place for thinking. Even if other people are around there seems to be an understanding that people sitting on the seat staring into the distance are not to be disturbed unless they choose to make contact.

The church is one of the oldest in the state and it has quite extensive grounds. There is an abundance of wild-life around it. Bird lovers are often to be found there. The various priests I have known over the years have always encouraged people to wander through the grounds. They are always open. You can go through the little car park or through the lych gate on the corner if you want to approach the church from the front. There is another quiet way in from the side street, through the hedge on either side.

Soon we hope to add the Senior Cat's name to that seat. It has taken a while but these things always do, especially when mending the church roof takes priority. It doesn't bother me or Brother Cat or Middle Cat in the least. We are just content to know that there will continue to be a place for people to sit and "think", a place which is respected in that way. Such places of contemplation are rare in busy lives.