The Mum of CJ and I would have been 113 years old today had she not died at the age of 93, 20 years ago.
Flora Edith Irene started her named life by creating a family upset. Not intentionally and in fact she had no hand in the matter as she was only months old at the time. At her Christening her Godmother, Edith, when asked "What do you name this child" answered "Flora Edith Irene" adding her own name in between the family's chosen names of Flora and Irene. Whilst there is absolutely nothing wrong with the name Edith if ever there was a person who didn't fit that name it was our Mum. She just didn't! |
Mum was a lover of peace and nature and eschewed any form of conflict and she was, of course, a rich gift for her parents.
Mum was born into a reasonably well-off family. However Mum's Father's business was a luxury business and the slump and the war put an end to any hopes Mum had of going to Oxford (which had been her Mother's hope) which, academically, she could have done if her Father could have paid the fees.
Mum never complained about missing uni. In fact Mum rarely if ever complained about anything and, like most people of her generation living through two world wars, she had plenty about which to complain.
We could learn a lot if we hearkened back to the time of Mum's youth. Yes. There is a huge amount of real poverty in the UK now but the privations of the slump and war were worse than most people now can even believe never mind understand and public financial assistance was not readily available.
I managed to get this photo with no time to focus, aim or indeed think as I walked towards Mum and she struck the pose. I had the camera at my side and just pressed the button. That it turned out was well as it did was a miracle. It is one of my favourites amongst the very many photos I took of Mum.
Goodness - 113! Our post-WW2 lives have been so cushioned compared to her times.
ReplyDeleteThey have indeed, Tasker. I can still remember children with no shoes on the streets of Liverpool when I was in my late teens.
DeleteHappy Birthday Flora Edith Irene! 🎂🍨💐
ReplyDeleteMaywyn, Mum believed in a life after death so she may indeed have a happy celebration of her birth on this earth.
DeleteThat is a lovely photo of your mum. Very natural, and she looks so happy.
ReplyDeleteJayCee, Mum was a naturally happy person despite having a very serious side. I was very pleased with the photo because it really did portray her playful side.
DeleteNow we all know where you got your good looks.
ReplyDeleteDavid, I have claimed to be many things but good looking is not one of them. I'm very proud of my modesty.
DeleteSuch a beautiful tribute. She sounds wonderful. And yes, those people lived through unimaginable times. My own mother would have been 108, but died at 59.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that, Nan. We had so much of our Mother just as she had so much of hers. They both disgraced the family by dying before they were 95 (just).
DeleteThat is the most wonderful picture of your Mum, not at all surprised it is a favourite of yours.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Flora 💐 💐. The son I know is a credit to you (and I expect the other one is a pretty decent fellow too).
Thank you, Jayne. the other one is a very decent fellow!
DeleteMy mum would be right behind your mum, 112 in April. My mother died in 1957.
ReplyDeleteYou were doing so well grammatically as David Gascoigne pointed out in the previous post's comments, but something went awry at the beginning of this post. Not "The mum of CJ and I" but "The mum of CJ and me" -- the object of a preposition is in the objective case, not the nominative. This is one of the most commonly heard errors on this side of the pond in everyday conversation and on the ubiquitous telly and in print on social media..
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. I actually started the sentence "CJ and my Mum..." and then altered it before publishing. There is absolutely nothing more humiliating than getting a lecture on grammar when one knows that one has erred.
ReplyDeleteAs one who was on the receiving end of many a lecture from my father (not about grammar), I do apologise, Graham. as it was not my intention to humiliate you. It was shortsighted and rude of me and I'm sorry. I shall do my best to refrain from gratuitous comments in the future.
DeleteI had noticed it, Graham, but didn't feel I could comment on grammar two posts in a row!
DeleteBob, worry not, I was wrong and I took your correction in the spirit in which it was made. I shall, however, sulk for the whole of tomorrow. Thank you, David.
DeleteBob, I was fortunate not to have parents who lectured me at all. They were full of help and guidance but never lectures. My Mum would have turned in her grave (well her ashes would) at my error. She actually thought her grammar in Latin and translated it. I particularly recall that "that having been done" is ablative absolute.
What a lovely, joyful mother your mother appeared to be, Graham. Wonderful memories of the lady you cared so deeply for. Both my mother's and my grandmother's (Mum's Mum) middle name was "Flora". My Mum would've turned 102 this past February. My mother passed away far too young, back in 1974; Nana followed her beloved daughter two years later. The mother of a friend of mine here where I live turned 105 on 22nd June just gone.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Graham...take good care. :)
Thank you for that lovely comment. Lee. I find it comforting to have a connection like that through the name Flora. 105 is a rare age.
DeleteOur parents lived in a very different time. It wasn't easy . There weren't many good opportunities for them. However, most of them were very cheerful
ReplyDeleteAs always, Red, you have hit the nail on the head very succinctly.
DeleteEven though I was born after the war, I still have my ration book. People moan too easily these days.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure, Cro, that I have mine stashed away in a drawer.
DeleteThat's a lovely tribute to your Mum in honor of her birthday. I love the story about her Godmother adding her own name to the new baby's names! My daughter-in-law is named Edith and she is a lovely, kind, hard-working woman that is a "rich gift" to our family!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ellen. I think that the name Edith so very popular 100 years ago is making a resurgence in some places.
DeleteNice photo of your mum! I have a week of reviving family memories of my own behind me, spending a whole week with my brother, also including a get-together with our aunt (mum's sister) and her husband, now in their mid-80s.
ReplyDeleteMonica, I'm sure that you will have enjoyed the experience particularly as you are so well informed about the family.
DeleteGraham, I know I shouldn't be laughing but the thought of you being caught out by the grammar police tickled my fancy.
ReplyDeleteLovely photo of your mum. The story about her middle name reminds me of my father who finally agreed to have his seventh son given his name, Andrew. However, he registered the birth and "got mixed up" and registered the boy as Terrence Andrew.
Edith does appear to be making a resurgence. My English niece has named her daughters Edith and Martha.
Hope you are feeling better!
Thank you , Anonymous (Diane?), for your amusing and interesting comment. Our first son was named Andrew.
DeleteI see I've slipped back into the land of Anonymous but I didn't become Diane. Pauline
DeleteThank you, Pauline, for clearing that up.
DeleteMy mother was born in London just a three days before yours in 1909 and died at age 90. Not an easy life as a child in the East End of London, but she was a hard worker, providing income for her family from age 14 on. She held three jobs during WWII, including as an ambulance driver during the Blitz before marrying my US father just before the end of the war. Her strength of character and sense of humour were lasting gifts. A good reason to celebrate our mothers.
ReplyDeleteMary, your mother sounds exactly the sort of person who kept Britain on an even keel during her younger years. It's always good to hear from people who have such stories. Thank you.
DeleteShe sounds like the character Samantha Stewart in the "Foyle's War" series! Wow - what a life!!
DeleteMy mother grew up in rural North Carolina. No running water or electricity until she was 16. Left home young to move to New York with her sister, to work for a newspaper, to send money home to her family. She got arrested because she sat in the back of a bus with the people of color, and refused to move to the front of the bus because they were not welcome there. When my sister and I were still in grade school, she put herself through nursing school and graduated with a 4.0 (highest grade). She was a nurse for 30 years. Retired now, and helping the world by caring for animals and people.
That's a lovely picture of your mother. Marcheline.
DeleteGB, thanks for sharing your mum with us! What a great photo! Captures her attitude as well as her looks, and that's the magic right there. Cheeky of your godmother to throw her own name in the ring like that... ha!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marcheline. Mum's Godmother blotted her copybook with the family well and truly!
DeleteYour mum sounds like quite a lady with a real great character, I like people like her.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Amy. She, and her mother, were both strong and interesting people.
DeleteIsn't it interesting to think that your mother (and others of her generation) suffered such great privations. How her happiness does contrast with so many people today who have so much..and yet are so unhappy. What a topsy turvy times we live in.
ReplyDeleteDebby, we live in very strange times where we have come to expect everything without, unfortunately, necessarily having earned it.
DeleteYour mum sounds like a remarkable woman. X
ReplyDeleteJules, in a very understated way she was very remarkable. She and a girl friend hiked and camped in the Lake District carrying their tent, in the late '20s long before girls did 'that sort of thing'. It's probably where I got my inborn love of the Lake District.
DeleteYour mum was about the same age as my grandparents (all born between 1907 and 1914) and this post calls to mind the things I know and remember about them. It was an unselfish generation, for sure.
ReplyDeletehaving just shivered through some cold Sydney days, I hate the thought of shoeless children on the streets of Birmingham. Thank heaven we have made some progress
oops! it was Liverpool with the shoeless children
DeleteKylie I'm sure that Birmingham would have been absolutely the same as Liverpool in that way. There would have been absolutely grinding poverty in both as in much of industrial Britain at the time.
DeleteGraham I'm happy you remember your Mum well and with love. My mother would have been 108 this year and I miss her each day.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite revealing, Jill, how we can still miss people who have departed from our lives so vary long ago.
DeleteSo many family photographs involve formal poses and forced smiles but your picture of your mother is very natural as she reveals a warm, natural smile to her much loved older son. Flora is a lovely name and I am sure it might be resurrected were it not for the famous brand of tubbed margarine.
ReplyDeleteYP, it is a name that I like and, although it's not been popular for a along time I know a few people with the name.
DeleteMy mother also died at age 93, Graham, and we will remember her birthday this September. Your mother looked like a lively, fun person just from the photo, a good one.
ReplyDeleteBeatrice, we were fortunate because Mum was everything that a mother should be and our Dad was a great dad. I'm very conscious that not everyone has the same life experience. I occasionally wonder how my son will think of me when I am gone.
DeleteMy dear old Mum turned 100 a couple of days ago. She is one of 14 who grew up in a shack with dirt floors during the Depression. Her mother grew up in a orphanage, gave birth to 14 children, lived through the Great Depression and still lived to the ripe old age of 103 ! Those women were tough.
ReplyDeleteHelsie, as you say, those women were tough despite everything that modern medicine can throw at us and however much it can cure our cancer it can't make us inherently tough like they were/are.
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