Hi Girls,
as many of you know its the 3rd anniversary of my Mum passing today.
I feel strong enough to do this now.
So, I wanted to share a little more of my Mum with you all.
My Mum didn't have a very good start in life. She was born on March 15th in 1941
My Nan was Blind and my grandad a heavy drinker but always worked.
My Mum had 3 sisters & 1 Brother & unfortunately they really got along.
My auntie Connie emegrated to Aus on the £10 deal years back & she still to this day lives in New South Wales.
My aunt Pauline lives in Reading and own a dry cleaning business and her and Connie are close and visit several times a year.
Then there's my aunt Sheila, who live in Slough and her & pauline even though 30 mins apart don't keep intouch at all now.
The there's my uncle Reg, he's always been in & out of our lives.
The only one that my Mum was close with was My Auntie Pauline..the only one that came to Mums funeral.
......................................................
I think there closeness stems from when they were young and through their adolescence they were in a childrens home together just after the war.
...................................................................
My Mums 1st love was a guy called Jimmy, Mum never told us about him until we asked if dad was her 1st love. Jimmy worked in the factory and Mum met him when she was sweet 16. Mum had just landed her 1st proper paid job and they used to all meet outside the factories for their lunchtime.
Time moves on & Jimmy and my mum started dating and my mum really fell in love with Jimmy and likewise Jimmy felt the same about mum, however, in those days things were so so different and Jimmy's family, especially his father knew of my mums father and it was a big no no from the 1st meeting my mum had with them all because mums dad was a drinker. Weeks later, the relationship desolved.
Mum was devastated to say the least.
2 yrs moved on
...................................
The meeting of Ken
(who became mine and my sisters and brother's father)
Mums still working at this factory & the girls eventually got my mum out, a night on the tiles.
They went to see a local band in a local club, it was there my Mums nightmare began, although she could not see it at this point.
She met Ken, a haulage driver with big dreams & fancy ideas. Ken was 6yrs older than my Mum but Mum didn't have a good dtrong family behind her to give her direction or an opinion. Although Mum had moved back home by this time to look after my sick Nanna in the evenings whilst my grandfather was out drinking and womanizing til early hrs.
So, Mum pretty much fell into kens arms but I think secretly still in love with Jimmy.
Yrs moved on and my Sister was born then another which was my brother, then another which was another sister.
By this time my father had gambled and drunk away each home they built up all for these big 'DREAMS'
leaving my Mum having to beg, borrow & steal from the market stalls if she had to to feed her children.
Ken used to say he will be back later and then turn up 3 weeks later with no money. There's more but i will spare you the beatings my Mum suffered.
Amongst all this I was born.
Mum eventually left Ken 23 yrs before she passed away. She never did have any interest in any other men as she made herself a promise when she was with Jimmy that if her marriage to Ken ever failed she would never meet another & she never did.
She was so lonely towards the end that 6 months before she passed we moved her down to Kent from her roots in Tooting Sw London.
She was 65 when she passed.
.....................................................
MUM, i'm sorry we could not fill this emptiness for you.
I know being apart from you feels like nothing I have ever felt before.
I know God took you for a reason...that reason being that you no longer had to suffer the pains & heartache of your memories.
I love and miss you so much.
Your loving daughter, Grandon & Son in law
Lisa, Luke & Steve.xxxxx
