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I thought I’d check out  Colline Kook-Chun’s blog and there was an interesting post on there regarding her life changing events.   As requested I’ll join in the fun and add my own from childhood onwards that I’ve experienced, and will also answer her two questions at the end of the blog:

1.  Death of my grandmother:

I was the apple of my maternal grandmother’s eye.  Anything I wanted and she would do her best to ensure that I got it.  When she was killed by a hit and run driver in 1967 I was 10 years old and had never experienced the death of anybody close to me before.  It knocked me for six.

2.  Changing schools at the age of 11:

My parents moved from the East End of London to South East London.  I moved from a small mixed grammar school of only 300 children to a huge comprehensive full of 2000 girls.  I knew nobody.  For a good 6 months I felt lost until I found my feet.  It was actually the making of me, as a comprehensive education suited me better and catered more for my musical talents.

3.  Leaving school:

I thought I’d be at school for ever.  I loved my comprehensive school and never wanted to leave it.  However, at over 18 years old I had to go out into the wide world and get a job, which I did, but I still look back at my schooldays with fondness.

4.  Death of my father:

Dad died when I was 19.  We had never been that close, but now I was alone with my mother, who clung to me like a limpet.  I was too young to offer any kind of support, and all I wanted to do was leave home, which I did within a year.

5.  Leaving home:

I shared a flat with a girl from work when I was 20.  At last I was free to stay up late, go to parties, meet boys, and generally do what I like.  After a while I got it all out of my system and missed my mum, so I started visiting her again much to her surprise.  Meanwhile she had branched out, learned to drive, joined an over 60s club, and met a boyfriend!  We got on better than we ever did when I lived with her.

6.  Meeting my husband:

I was hit by the thunderbolt at the tender age of 21.  Sam and I were engaged within 3 months and married within a year.  We’re still together nearly 40 years later despite a few hiccups along the way.

7.  Becoming a mother at age 24:

Growing up an only child with no experience of babies, I was not ready for the shock of childbirth and then having a hyperactive son.  We had no sleep for 3 solid years!  However, our second son was completely different and was an absolute joy.  Both are grown up now and our friends for life.

8.  Being diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age 47:

This was a great shock at the time, and I thought I’d be dead by the age of 50.  However, I’ve had extensive treatments and am still here 13 years’ later, a little battered and bruised, but definitely alive and kicking.  It just goes to show that a diagnosis of cancer doesn’t always mean a death sentence.

9.  Finding out that a close member of your family is in the process of changing their sex:

We’re still going through this one with Sam’s adoptive brother, who kept his secret very well for more than 40 years.  We would never have guessed that inside he felt he was really a woman.  The whole family is reeling from the shock.

Colline’s questions:

  1.  Is it a bird?  Is it a plane?  No, it’s…  a UFO.
  2.  What music do you like:   Rock, reggae and blues, in that order.

Thanks Colline, for making me think!