Meet the Family (Part 9)

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I've given an insight into what my mum and dad did before they met and the actual event of their meeting but one thing I did miss out was my dad's previous two girlfriends. Dad went to school with a girl called Marjorie. Back in the day, children went to the local school from the age of 5 until they were 14. They didn't have high schools or secondary schools. Dad had known Marjorie before he'd even started school and they'd always been friends so it was inevitable that, when they left school, they went out on dates together. Dad had a job within the village and Marjorie, like so many of the local girls, worked at the local manor house. When Dad went away and joined the army at the start of World War Two, somehow they drifted apart and, although they stayed friends for the rest of their lives, there was never any romantic attachment. When Dad was in the army he often had to travel back from France to London with documents for the Government and, on one of those occasions, he met a girl, Gwen, who was very down to earth and had a similar sense of humour to Dad. When the war ended Dad arrived in London before travelling home to Norfolk and stayed with Marjorie and her family for a few days. It became evident that the girl's father wanted Dad to pop the question to Gwen. He told Dad that he had been buying up sites that had been bombed by the Luftwaffe during the war. He'd already begun building new houses and business units and had become a millionaire. He promised Dad that he'd be set up for life as he'd hand over the reins to Dad on his marriage to Gwen. I think Dad felt a little bit pressured but he did propose to Gwen and they agreed that he'd return to London in a couple of weeks to arrange the wedding. Dad then returned home to Norfolk. He'd only been home a couple of days when he realised that he just couldn't bear to live in London. He'd forgotten just how much he loved the countryside. He then had to return to London and tell Gwen that he wanted to remain in Norfolk and told Gwen that they could still marry provided she was prepared to move to Norfolk. Gwen had had a sheltered life and was the apple of her father's eye. Dad could instantly see that she wouldn't leave her dad so they had to call off the engagement but said they'd keep in touch. Dad then returned to Norfolk and I'm grateful he did so as, if he'd moved to London, he never would have met my mum. Sadly, Gwen never married but she did inherit her father's fortune.