Ā鶹Éē

The nice folk of Gladstone Road got together for a street party when the war was over, and Rita and I painted glass jars to make pretty candle containers. The venue was outside our house of course, so that the Godfrey piano could be dragged out for Mum to play.

What a day to remember it was when Leo arrived home at 3 a.m. in the morning. The red cloth hanging over the fireplace with the words ā€œWELCOME HOMEā€ picked out in cotton wool, had been put up but we didnā€™t know exactly when he would arrive. I came down the stairs to see Mummy hugging Leo in the hallā€¦ā€My son, my sonā€ā€¦.what a moment to seeā€¦.this was not a film, this was real!

Leo was hungry and he had some Shredded Wheat with hot water because we had no milk in the house. I sat on his lap. How wonderful that our big brother was home.

The next morning I awoke to a lovely new sound. It was Leo, playing the old Godfrey piano, and I heard the familiar songs of the time. Rita and I were both presented with brooches from Greece and I proudly took mine to St Johns to show my friends. It was in the shape of a golden fish, a flat fish with little diamonds. When I came home Leo had gone to be with his wife Gwen, and daughter of 2 Ā½ years, Maureen. Leo had not seen Maureen before. I thought about it allā€¦

(Well ā€” Joan would be home in 1946ā€¦..sheā€™ll sing to meā€¦.Peggy will probably be the first one to get marriedā€¦.Rita wants to put on a show for charity in the old back shed, - thereā€™s plenty of room and weā€™ll do ā€œGone with the Windā€ā€¦.things were happening and perhaps I could learn to read music if Mum could afford itā€¦.Iā€™ll be nine next year, perhaps the shops will have some more bananasā€¦.Iā€™ve only tasted oneā€¦.now we can have proper holidays with Aunt Mercy and Uncle Maurice in Chippenham, with ice cream and custard made from goats milkā€¦.perhaps I could cope with my tonsils instead of having them outā€¦.

Yes things really are going to get betterā€¦.)

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