| I am a pensioner who loves reading and writing and listening to radio 4. I had three daughters and now I have 5 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. I enjoy looking at the pictures at an art appreciation class and I am a member of the U3A and the National Women's Register. As an 'oldie' I often think and talk about the past. Looking back I wish I'd been nicer to my parents and particularly wish I'd asked my father about his time in the army during WWI. My sisters and I used to tell him to shut up because we were bored with his tales. The whole experience has been enjoyable and educational. I should like to do it all over again.
When I was 12, I was a big bonny girl full of enthusiasm, arguments and poetry. ...Looking back, though, I also think I was a bit of a snob. I had nothing to be snobbish about. We lived in a terraced house like the neighbours and had a bath in front of the fire on Saturday nights, listening to the wireless, while mother washed our socks and knickers in the soapy water. Father always said he had to vote Tory because he was a businessman. That was a laugh. He wasn't a manager like Doreen's dad. We didn't even have a bay window or a bathroom. No, my dad had a horse and cart and sold fruit and vegetables round the villages. He wore an old brown overall called a "slop" and would sometimes cough and spit in the street. Oh and I did want to be posh... But I had to go out and help father every Saturday. I loved old Jerry, our cart horse, but I hated sitting on the cart showing my fat red knees. I hated boys running after us, pinching plums and laughing at me. Or the thought that my friends from high school would come past while I was sitting outside the pub waiting for dad to finish his pint. Most of all I hated the thought that they might see me sitting there while Jerry did a poo. Now I've got a bay window and 2 bathrooms, but I feel a bit ashamed, looking back at what a snob I was. I remember how proud my father was of me, showing my photograph to his mates in the pub: 'our Kathleen'. I'd love to go back and talk to my dad again.
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