dancing with the daffodils
My grandparents met during the war. She was a nurse, and he was an officer in the Oxford & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. She chose him during the ladies' excuse-me, according to my Great Aunt.
The Great Aunt told us at the weekend about how they were all thankful every day to wake up uninjured. They were younger than I am now, and there was no future to plan for, only the rest of each day. She said that my grandfather decided that he would like to have a child, in case he didn't come back from France, and so they married and my mum's eldest sister was born.
I would have made a lot of decisions very differently, if I had had that concept of the future.
Karen · Tuesday February 17, 2004
09:45
Condolences.
Dragon · February 17, 2004 10:02My mum was shopping in Croydon town centre with her mother one day. Her sister and two younger brothers were both at school. Her oldest brother was in the RAF in south-east Asia. Her second oldest brother was on board an aircraft carrier in the South Pacific.
Graybo · February 17, 2004 14:37As they were shopping, the air raid siren sounded. They waited in the shelter and could hear explosions, leaving only when the all-clear had been sounded.
When they got home, they found that a V1 had fallen on the house opposite theirs. That house was completely destroyed. Their own home was a shattered shell, a ruin.
My mum recalls that her own mother was most concerned that she had left her best sheets on the line to dry, and they were now ruined. Not only that, but the front door had only been repainted a fortnight before.
Because of this, the family was evacuated, ultimately being housed on the edge of Bognor Regis. My mum went to dances at the Rifle Club, the main social centre in those days, where she met a tall man by the name of Malcolm.
It's funny how war can create life and opportunity as well as destroy it.
Well put Graybo.
Remember to put the good thoughts first.
Gordon · February 17, 2004 16:02Indeed. Good advice for eulogists everywhere, too.
Karen · February 17, 2004 16:15You've made me want to retell some of my grandmother's wartime experiences now - and I only ever read those from her diaries, since she died before I was born.
Condolences to you and your family, Karen.
Vaughan · February 17, 2004 21:48