Urban_Tribesman said:I can really identify with this as my Mum is also 94, earlier in February.
She was born a fighter. The first child, her Mum had had two still born before she was born. She was born a blue baby and only entered the world following a slapping from a Midwife who had cycled through the snow to deliver her, for which you had to pay. Remember, no NHS in those days.
The eldest with 4 younger brothers. That makes you a fighter!
By 19, she had joined the Army and spent 4 years at Bletchley Park. She started as a private, then became a Lance Corporal then a full Corporal with 22 girls under her. She worked in the Japanese code section and was based in block F, where the great Harry Flowers constructed Collosus, the worlds first programmable electronic computer. She was in the Intelligence Corp, a branch of Military Intelligence and a forerunner of MI5.
She knew my Father from when she was 15. They met at a local Fair. While she was in Bletchley, he was in North Africa and the tough old gut of Italy. They never saw each other for 3 years, but he wrote to her constantly, over 250 letters that I still have. Fighters both.
She lost him at 55 when he died, having raised two kids. After retiring, she worked for over 15 years in a charity shop. She is now challenged by very poor mobility but her mind remains as sharp as a whip, woe betide you.
Never underestimate the old. You spend a lifetime gathering wisdom, if you are lucky, and that process never stops and they are the guardians of that lifetime of knowledge.
Barbara and Harry have a lot in common.
Like I said, a fighter, and an inspiration !
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