Meet the Family

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I was brought up in a lovely stable family and even now my sister and I are very close. She's in her 60's and I'm 58. We had our odd squabble when we were kids but, on the whole, we loved each other to bits My dad was brought up in a typical English village. Aldborough was not far from the Norfolk coast, had a village green on which cricket was played during the summer, a local pub and a village shop with a post office He was a 'Malcolm in the Middle'. He had two older sisters, one younger sister and a younger brother. Granddad worked at the post office and Granny stayed at home to take care of their cottage and the family. In his spare time Granddad used to enjoy spending time out in his fruit and vegetable garden. He had a lovely, happy childhood. My mother, on the other hand, was the illegitimate daughter of the son of a local landowner. Her mother was sent away to give birth and, four years later, Mum ended up with my Grandma and Granddad. Grandma and Granddad had been married for a number of years but were unable to have children. Granddad was a barber by trade but, as Grandma came from quite a good family in London, she demanded the best. She wouldn't work and wouldn't help Granddad in his shop but, as she was an excellent pianist, she agreed to accompany Granddad when he sang at smoking parties which were held at the landowner's house in order to get extra money. On one occasion the landowner explained to Grandma and Granddad that he wanted a home for my mother and he actually paid them to take her. Granddad loved my mum but Grandma was quite evil and it wasn't until mum was 24 that she was finally able to escape and that was when she and Dad got married in 1954. There's so much more to her life but I don't want to bore you s I'll maybe start the second instalment tomorrow.