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A Fifties Child



A Fifties Child

first published on 4 Aug 2016 by Carol Taylor https://niume.com/post/79822
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Born in the early 50's, one of 3 and the oldest we had no Tv or phone we played out until dark and sometimes we were out all day playing in the woods, making camps...I was definitely not one of those girls who played with dolls and pushed someone else's baby up and down the street..for fun! Really...I was  a tom boy...one of my earliest memories was this pink spotted dress my mum made me...she made all our clothes and I remember that when the elbows of our cardigans or jumpers wore thin my mum unpicked the sleeves and changed them over so the darned patch was in the crook of our elbow.
I also remember climbing the big old Oak tree in the middle of the green and catching the said pink dress and tore it! Girls then did not wear trousers only skirts and dresses.
We made tents in the garden by slinging a blanket over the clothes line.....Played how  high can you jump with a pole on two sticks...until my dad shouted at us as we made a bare patch on his lawn. I remember playing jacks and hopscotch on the pavement( we then) had to clean every bit of the chalk of the pavement when we had finished playing.
Collecting the empty bottles and taking them back to get a penny and how many sweets could you get for a penny?
I remember moaning like hell when my mum combed my hair after washing it and the rags she put in so we had ringlets( and how they hurt to sleep in). I also remember her taking us to the hairdressers as she was fed up with moans and me getting this fringe.....I promptly got the scissors out when I got home and cut it off..stating I don't have a fringe now.
I also remember how much I used to write for homework..pages and pages..my teachers must have groaned..not half a page for me. When I got the " A" my mum would say very nice dear...my dad..not much...he thought girls just got married and had kids.
Our first TV.....Took pride of place in the parlour ..the best room..the one we only used on high days and holidays or when people visited.
Most of  my friends wanted to be teachers, hairdressers,nurse, shop assistants ..none wanted to be a pop star or celebrity.
But we were happy! Why?
Ask yourself?
So true to life...I got married, had the kids..bla bla bla
Then I retired.....went to Thailand....joined Phuket Writers and wow........ An anthology, a novel in the pipeline, writing for a New York website.
And all because this child of the fifties had a dream.
So I believe if you dare to dream...then you can!
I see that happiness in the faces of the village children here..who have very little...the boys ..a bike, they fish..a stick with a cord, they run, they climb trees, they laugh..why?
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I hope at least one of them dares to dream!

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