I am proud to say they proved everyone wrong and went on to have four kids, myself and 3 brothers Richard, Peter and David. When I was two weeks old we moved from Balham to Romford Essex where we lived for the next eight years very happily. Dad commuted to London where he worked as a telephonist and was able to navigate the transport system including the underground with only the use of a white stick.

Mum remained at home to take care of us. She would read us stories like the famous five from her Braille books delivered by the RNIB and we had good family days out in Southend. I was very aware that our family was different and also that we were watched and sometimes that made me uncomfortable although my over-riding feeling was that of immense pride. All our cups etc were plastic and I remember mum touching and putting her finger inside to cup so she knew when the cup was full and of course she listened to the changing sounds of the fluid as the cup volume increased.

She was a good cook although I once remember us narrowly missing eating Kite Kat stew. She loved to play the piano, was gentle, determined and accepting of what life threw at her. Dad loved his gardening; I remember long rows of vegetables in the back garden separated by string. He also loved woodwork and I remember him once nearly sawing through a chair. He loved classical music, which I hated at the time, as well as tape recording birds singing and us playing about. He also busked in London and played his accordion at weddings; he was very gentle.. in fact a gentle giant. Very sadly for us all dad died suddenly at the age of thirty six leaving a young widow to rear his children. Very rapidly we moved down to Northamptonshire where she unfortunately married my stepfather also blind. Mum sadly died of Cancer at 55 but at least she saw us grow up and had some time with her grandchildren, Catherine, James and Caroline and there is also Mellisa and Nicholas in America my brother Peter’s children.

As I had no real history of dad’s family, indeed not even a photo of him to remember him by I decided to work on other people’s history which I have been doing here in Finedon for the last five years. I have interviewed and recorded over sixty peoples life stories which have all been laminated and I also have very many photos all of which gives a deep insight into village life as well as the world and its turbulence over the last hundred years and I plan to one day incorporate this into a book. Life history is important and perhaps maybe if only one other person reads this now and does something similar that would be brilliant either now or in a hundred years from now.

Best of luck and enjoy what you are doing.

Submitted by Audrey