Kay Kaye and her sister Carol picked up the 91Èȱ¬ Truths audio diary equipment and went travelling with a purpose...
In the summer of 1998, Carol and Kay’s mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness. It was a tremendous shock to family who had known her always as a lively, vibrant person. The family’s plan to make that Christmas the best ever was sadly not be, as their mother died a few days before Christmas. This year Carol decided that sad memories should be replaced by a strong, happy memory, and she gave her sister Kay and her husband two tickets to accompany her and her 8 year old daughter Clarissa, to Lapland to rediscover the spirit of Christmas…
The magic starts on the aeroplane, with a clear clear sky and a full moon straight ahead and Kay is on the flight deck with her microphone as captain announces, "We just heard from air traffic control that Santa is doing a test run on his sledge for Christmas time… boys and girls keep your eyes open." Clarissa’s cautiously impressed. More interestingly, and believable, for 91Èȱ¬ Truths listeners, the First Officer says, "John Peel is my hero, my grandfather listened to him, and my father, and now I listen to him - he’s an old institution of the 91Èȱ¬!" Grandfather?
In Lapland, the snow crunches beneath the feet and the elves are ready to meet the visitors who’ve flown in to re-discover Christmas. Kay and co. spend the day racing around the dark forest at the speed of light on a skidoo, "It was absolutely stunning, it’s an incredible contrast to the same day two years ago when mother died. It’s worked - my sister and I were talking about her all day, knowing she’d have loved the reindeer sleighs and the magical-ness of the whole experience… we did have a moment, but we’re menopausal, so what do you expect!"
Next - Father Christmas! "We've just travelled through the forest on a skidoo sled, to the most beautiful spot - there’s a log cabin, a roaring log fire, reindeer tethered to a post and… Oh! it’s an elf!" Kay and Carol are as excited as Clarissa… A soft-spoken Santa introduces himself …
Later - "It was superb," says Carol, "The whole thing is absolutely truly magical - there’s this lovely cuddly old man in there - speaking perfect English! Funny how he couldn’t speak Finnish when you asked him, though..." The two sisters dissolve into giggles.. Santa or not, it seems the magic was real.
