so i finnally met my grandmothers best friend today. she was a dear sweet old lady with improbably red hair that she announced was natural....her place in london is a bit like a zoo, with animals running all over the place. it turns out she lives here in england as her daughter is a vet with the national animal protection something or another, hence all the abandoned animals that get brought home...
i learned a few things about my dad's family. my grandfather was an alcoholic who used to beat my grandmother. she was glad when he died. he wanted to be buried with a bottle in his coffin. i didnt establish whether or not this wish was granted. during our conversation i refered to him as my grandfather and the old lady said "ah you dont want to be calling him that, he was no grandfather." well, guess that says it all really...
the boxes dont contain a whole lot, mainly birth cirtificates and the like. so i learned that my grandmother was born in 1906, which is about what i would have guessed. my dad was born shortly (very shortly!) after my grandparents got married. i have my grandmothers wedding ring, but it is too big even for my thumb, it just slides right off. there are a few other bits and bobs, watches and another ring...pictures of people i cant identify but am most likely related to. they look like they must have been taken just before the war, but i cant be sure. i am just supposing that as i dont imagine the paper would have been so nice during the rationings....
the rest of the story is sad really. my grandmother lost my father and he wasnt really ever part of the family after 1939. i have no clue what happened to the other children, i couldnt find anything in the records, although i presume they must be the kids in the pictures i am guessing were taken right before the war. my grandmother died feeling lonely and unloved and she is buried somewhere under a tree in glasgow, in a paupers grave of sorts. her life was harsh a brutal and cold. i never knew her and i dont even know what she looked like....strange really isnt it?
2 commentaires:
Tell us more! Why and how did your grandma lose your father? How did this old lady find you? Any old pictures worth posting? Fascinating story.
ok ok ok, i will try to write the full story...but first i need to figure out who the people in the pictures are...i also i have to decide how much of this my father really needs/ wants to know...would you want to know that your father used to beat up your mother? it is not pretty!
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