As a little girl growing up in England I had it pretty well. As I said we had a Gardner, Mrs. Coates, and a Nanny, Sophie, who came all week and bandaged small injuries, fed us breakfast, and dinner ( which was the biggest meal) and lots of love and Mom, or Mummy (of course)as we called her cooked and baked, took us to ballet classes and to preschool and the convent ( where Nuns with cold hands taught us everything including the catechism ) and grand parks where we played hide and seek and "tracking" which was a game I didn't really understand but just tried to make sure I didn't get lost!
One day while playing with my sister and some friends, they decided to ride around the block, and I tried to go too. My hobby horse just wasn't keeping up so I went back home to get my scooter and headed back out after them. By the time I reached the corner everyone was gone and as I continued to try to find them, I got more and more lost. I ended up at the little row of shops we frequented every Saturday to spend our sixpence, allowance, which we always spent on sweets. I went to the bakery and asked them where my sister was and they gave me a doily! Not sure how that was supposed to help but it kept me calm while they called the police. When the Police arrived, they put me in their car and asked me some typical questions..."what's your name little girl?"..."Sally"...I didn't know my last name! "Where do you live Sally?" ... "at home" I replied! So with all that information thoroughly documented, we headed out to find home, but I couldn't see over the dashboard! We drove around to find something familiar but by this time I was very frightened and everything looked strange to me...I was clearly no help. Just when all hope was about to be lost, a woman waved down the Police car to explain she had lost her little girl and just like majic, there I was!!! After hugs and Thank You's were over I was able to go home and all was well with the world, but I never quite relied on my hobby horse after that!
Most of our extended family, Aunts, Uncles, cousins and my Grandmother on my Fathers side, lived in Sheffield north of us, so we saw them less frequently, but my grandmother and grandfather on my mothers side, lived close by, and we saw them regularly. They were a large part of our lives.
My Grandmother was the most wonderful woman in the world! She always had time for us, was amazed at everything we did, and was always prepared to play with us whether it was making things with cards she had saved ( she saved EVERYTHING), or playing games with us, or colouring, reading to us, whatever we wanted. My grandfather was equally attentive to us and loved us to sit on his knee and tickle us. My sister wasn't as open to this as I was and in reflection my need for affection and physical love was what made me a perfect target for what was to come. I continued to have many wonderful experiences as a child, which I will continue to share, but there was a growing unease and confusion in my little mind as to what was happening to me and I was very confused as to how to deal with it. My life was in a transition, as so many little children face. Things were about to change for me...a fork in the road from which I continue to grapple with the consequences.
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