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| previous LEE |
Background Background1 Sister Early Years Early Years_2 Teens 20s - Beginnings 20s - Endings 20s - Loss 20s - Leavings 20s - Return 30s Sitemap |
| Facets: |
| Context |
| There were two of us; after trying 10 years and having tests and beginning to believe there would never be children, I came along followed by one sister in less than two years. Mum and Dad were so happy to have us we were spoiled and indulged and cossetted- treated as if trully were were the centre of the entire universe... I must say it came as a rude shock to us both to discover that to the rest of the world this was not a fact!! We were raised Catholic. My parents were hardworking and sacrified to give us the best of everything ( not that we were grateful at the time...!!! Memories of one precocious and obnoxious brat telling a visitor "My mother only allows me to eat RED salmon not pink!!" Points to self.... has the decency to look embarassed....) private schooling, dropped off and colected from everything.ancillary activities Their entire lives and world centred around the provision not only of our needs but also of most of our wants.... Intensely Catholic - 4 rows from the front on the right hand side of the church at 8am Mass every Sunday. If I missed Mass even through illness I was certain I would be going to hell!! When I was in the last years of Primary School Dad had his left lung removed... CANCER. In those days survival was unusual... Mum took over the business and turned it around... as I said before, Dad was big on the Bon Homie but light on the doing... Mum did. I don't think Dad ever forgave mum for not falling to pieces when his health did. The Macho found it hard to cope, BUT in reality it put them fiscally on a firm footing. And yes they worked hard, to their credit. dad made a pact with God that if he could survive to see us grown he would do good works. So instead of being an invalid, he worked, he and mum provided, and they both volunteered,. No midlife crisis for dad - he was too busy doing for the community. |
| Tracking and defining ME |