ABC Wednesday....

I am the blonde in the middle, with the sensible sandals on! D is for....DENISE, Auntie DOT and a near DEATH experience! I love telling stories. When I am teaching I love to use examples from my own childhood/life to illustrate a point. I have always wanted to write a book, it would be called “The Amazing Adventures of Flossy Flupipe…why? Read on! In my work as a teacher I come across many children who are going through a particular bad time at home. More and more children have to deal with broken relationships and parental problems. I know how they feel! By the age of 5 my parents were divorced. At an early age I decided to try and make my mum proud of me..... I didn't always get it right, but I tried. When parents come to me and say their child is being difficult/rude/cheeky/dis-interested because of problems at home it doesn't really wash with me, and the children know this. They too have the choice to either make their parent(s) proud...or not! Flossyflupipe was the name my mum called me, and my book is going to be about the early years of my life...............................hence the title! The amazing adventures of flossy flupipe! Enjoy! My mum was the middle child, having two elder sisters and two younger brothers. Starting with the oldest the running order went like this.... Joan, Doreen (Dot) Marjorie, Robert, (Bob) and Stanley (Stan) My nana was Elizabeth Ellen, my Grandad was Robert Charles. My grandad originated from Thetford, Norfolk and my nana came from Germany. Her maiden name was Schumacher. Her father had fled Germany when all the troubles of the First World War started. He did not support the Nazi's and wanted to give the family a better start in life. He was a clockmaker and he set up his business in York. Sadly when the war started his shop was targeted by anti-Nazi protestors and the windows were often stoned. Eventually he moved further north. Nana and Grandad had an ice-cream round which they did from the back of a horse. Eventually grandad worked in the steelworks. He was a passionate gardener and allowed me to grow some flowers. He was the character Mr Green finger in a children's story I wrote called Cedric the Caterpillar. In my story Mr Green finger grew flowers for Mrs Green finger’s windowsill...just as grandad had always done. My nana was the home maker. Her role was to bring up the children, look after the home and ensure there was always a good meal at the table. Out of the five children mum was the one who had an aptitude for learning and secured a place at secretarial college. This was to be her tool of escape in later years. Education was her passport and it allowed her to make a choice! I was to use this knowledge myself and pass the secret on to others! Mum enjoyed her work as a typist and worked in a Solicitor's Office. Her best friend, Enid and she would always enjoy their times out together. It was on such an occasion she met Jim, James or whatever! He was a roofer. Says it all! Mum was infatuated with him and took him to meet nana and grandad. They didn't take to him. As the relationship developed his intentions became apparent. Nana and grandad did not want mum to marry him. Mum married him! Now the interesting fact here is that they were married in September 1955.... 9 months later Denise Elizabeth was born! I often asked mum if she was pregnant when she got married, she always denied it.....but I still wonder. Mum married him! It wasn't long into the marriage that things started going wrong. He was a heavy drinker and a womaniser. He was also violent. I do have a fear of stairs even to this day. This is because he pushed me down the stairs, be it accidentally when I was 2 or 3. Even if it was as a result of him being drunk and careless, at that age it was quite frightening for me. He had his own business and the money management was not helped by his bouts of drinking....so he went bankrupt! Mum was home alone one day when there was a visit from some not so nice people....the Bailiffs. They stripped the home leaving only a bed and a chair. They even took my toy pushchair which nana and grandad had bought me a few days earlier. Mum had spoken to Grandad about the home situation, but his words had been... "We told you he was no good...you've made your bed now lie in it!" The stress of everything was telling on mum. As the home situation was not good to bring up a baby, moi, I was moved to live with Auntie Dot & Uncle Moss. They lived in a terraced house in Eston. I remember going for a walk with Auntie Dot and she pointed to a window in the town's hospital. My mum was waving. Unbeknown to me she had suffered a nervous breakdown. It was through mental and physical exhaustion. She was living still in Stockton, travelling extensive distances on the bus each day to work, and then calling to see me every night. Shortly after mum bought a house in the next street. She had borrowed the deposit from her 2 brothers, Uncle Bob and Uncle Stan. She left my natural father and divorce proceedings were started.. Auntie Dot and Uncle Moss met through work. They both worked on the buses. Uncle Moss was a driver and Auntie Dot was a conductress. They had no children. I don't know what the arrangements were i.e. if Auntie Dot stopped working in order to look after me, or if she had all ready stopped work. But she was there for me whilst mum worked. From the age of 5 I would get up on a morning for breakfast, go to school and after school I would have my tea and then watch television whilst waiting for mum. Mum would collect me and I would spend a few hours with her at our own house, 61 West Street. Around 9pm, Mum would take me back to 57 William Street where I would have a wash or bath and then go to bed. On a weekend Mum collected me on a Friday evening and I spent the entire weekend with her, returning on a Sunday evening ready for school. When mum had holidays I would stay with her. The arrangements stayed like this and we were all happy. here were times when I missed my mum and let it be known, but on the whole everybody had my best interests at heart and we soldiered on. One of the great events was when Uncle Moss bought a car. An Austin A35. Uncle Moss's driving had to be experienced to be believed! Being a bus driver he assumed he always had the right of way. He also had the ability to smoke whilst driving, drop his cigarette, set himself on fire, continue driving, somehow have a small fire somewhere about his person and arrive at his destination completely unscathed by the episode. One of the most vivid recollections is of him driving up Saltburn bank. Mum and Auntie Dot were in the rear of the car and I was in the front passenger seat. It was the age of cigarettes and all 3 adults were smoking. Uncle Moss, as per usual dropped his cigarette into his lap and as the smell of the singing trousers alerted and alarmed the rest of us he started fumbling around to find the burning cigarette. Of course he couldn't see as he was watching the road and burnt his fingers on the lighted cigarette which was in his lap. For a moment he lost his concentration, missed a gear and the car started rolling backwards down Saltburn bank! I was panic stricken, gasping for breath anyway as I battled to get some air in the smoke filled car as it rolled backwards! I could see the sea and had visions of us ending up in it! Fortunately Uncle Moss, still singing away managed to gain control and brought the car to a halt. He found the right gear and we carried on, be it Uncle Moss arriving home with several holes in his trousers and a telling off from Auntie Dot! To be continued! To see more posts, visit the ABC Blog here