For the oldies (including me!) (Definitely me!)

Those of us who were kids in the 40's, 50's, 60's, probably shouldn't have survived.

Me - ready for anything!

Our cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paint, the slats were apparently too far apart, and there were no bumper pads.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. Not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors!

We sampled cake batter with raw eggs in it, and survived.

We ate cakes, bread and butter, ice cream, and drank pop with sugar in it, but we were not overweight because we were always outside playing.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode down the hill, only to find out we had forgotten the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the street lights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. No mobile phones. Unthinkable!

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at all, no 99 TV channels,  personal computers, or Internet chat rooms. We had friends! We went outside and found them.

We played cricket and football and rounders, and sometimes the ball would really hurt.

We fell out of trees, got cut, and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame but us. Remember accidents?

We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned to get over it.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms, and although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out very many eyes, nor did the worms live inside us forever.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home and knocked on the door.

Not everyone was picked for the school football or netball team. Those who weren't had to learn to deal with disappointment.

Some pupils weren't as bright as others but tests were not adjusted for any reason.

Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law. Imagine that!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

And you're one of them! Congratulations.

(I've had this on my computer for years and have no idea of the source.)

Lily

Memorial lanterns

 Lily was a woman who lived in one of the villages where I was Rector.  She had very unusual features and she told me her mother had been Japanese.  She had few memories of her mother and had been brought up by a stepmother.  

One evening Lily and I were with other friends around a fireside and stories began to be told.  And Lily told us something of her own story.

Her mother's family was originally from Hiroshima but they moved to Tokyo during the war.  In August 1945 they received news of a devastating attack on their home city.

As soon as they could they went back to try and find other family members but with no success.  They went back to Tokyo to mourn their dead.  What they did not know was that they had themselves been contaminated.

Lily's father was British and he met her mother a few years later.  They married and soon Lily was born.  Her parents were so happy.

But before Lily was two, her mother died.  

On this day, I pray for all civilians who are caught up in conflicts they do not understand, and those who still suffer as a result of war.  

Holidays

Sandcastle building

The essentials were packed.  I had strange swimsuits of shirred elasticated fabric.  They seemed to attract sand and became very scratchy.  That was better than the knitted garments inflicted on some children.  I loved to go to the sea to swim or paddle.  We would collect shells on the beach and search for treasures in rock pools.  

But buckets and spades were also needed.  Castle building was taken quite seriously and besides, those buckets were useful for keeping a small fish for the afternoon.  

Until I was about eight we would stay at bed and breakfast places, preferably farmhouses.  Some places would offer an evening meal or we had sandwiches or fish and chip.  As the family became better off we started to go to hotels.   When I was nine we went to Guernsey which involved my first ever flight.  That was far better than the car and even more exciting than a train!

To the seaside: the journey

Some time during the school break we would go on holiday to the seaside.  It was never referred to as the coast, always the seaside.  I remember holidays in Sidmouth, Swanage, Whitby, Bridlington, Cromer.  When I was about eight we went to Cornwall, a journey so long that we took two days in the car.  

The roads were far less busy those days.  Some friends would go on holiday by train and how I envied them!  That seemed much more exciting than the car.  

My parents also suffered in the car, probably even more than we did.  The cry "Are we nearly there?" would start within minutes and continue all day.  There were, of course, no entertainments other than those we made for ourselves.  "Green grow the rushes, O" anyone?

I couldn't read in the car without feeling sick so that was banned.  We would look out of the windows to find a black cow or a green gate.  Red Lion and White Hart pubs were sought and points awarded.  No prizes, just the honour of winning.

Our family had a small stove which ran on methylated spirits so we would find somewhere to stop and fry sausages to be eaten in buns. This was to remind Father of his days in the Boy Scouts.   They were a real treat.  The sandwiches which Mother used to take sometimes were very boring in comparison and the stove and sausages had to come out at least once every holiday. Very occasionally we would buy food en route.  Here I am wearing one such purchase to the amusement of my Mother and sister.