I remember when I was young being told by my dear mother that Easter eggs were a waste of money because the chocolate was so thin and the price was so high that she would buy us a bar of something we liked instead as it was far better value for money!
When growing up I was allotted a sweet day which was Wednesday. This was because we had a really horrible dentist who said my teeth were rubbish and proceeded to fill nearly all of them, inflicting lots of pain and telling me not to eat sweets. I didn't actually eat very many sweets as we had little money when I was young. Since this barbaric dentist left the scene I have had little trouble with my teeth and have always been told how well I keep them. So there I was left with a sweet day and my father cleaning my teeth at night as if he was scouring a baked on pan. We found out afterwards that this man did it to loads of other people who also didn't need the work he carried out!
My first Easter egg was bought for me by my first boyfriend, Rick. It was massive with gold wrapping and a big red bow around it. I was overjoyed and didn't want it to end so ate it so slowly I still had some left in August. When I was little we also attended our little old church which was always a mystery to me and that was about it.
Easter had more meaning after I had the children. We also went to the little old church that I had gone to as a child but they now had a more open approach and the children took part in the Easter Egg Hunt around the grounds and helped to decorate the church and take part in the service. It was only then that I learnt the true meaning of Easter that Jesus died and rose again. I did buy my children the, bad value for money, Easter eggs and we also had a Easter Egg Hunt in the garden and around the house. I still keep the wonderful Easter cards the children made me while at primary school. The children and I used to make little Easter cakes and decorate them with all sorts of fun toppings.
Being in France there is no church to visit well not like the pretty 900 year old one we used to go to that held memories and meaning for me. Don't get me wrong there is a church in every village in France but they hold little attraction to me as they are obviously in French. For some Easter is a Holy time for some it will be a chocolate time and for all hopefully a family get together happy time.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Easter
Sunday 24 March 2013
Friday 8 March 2013
Did it really matter??
I worked for many years in the printing industry. Loved every minute of it, my whole life was print. I used to believe that every second of my working day and everything I did at work mattered. The proms programme being delivered on time, the Royal Opera House programme altered, edited, corrected, printed and delivered for the performance. All this mattered and the feeling of achievement when the deliveries hit the deadline and the clients were happy, it all mattered!
I worked my way up in the industry, starting as a telephonist, receptionist, clerk in a quaint old fashioned printing factory where they still used hot metal and everything was a craft and produced by experienced men by hand. It was a slow industry then and to print a letterhead had a lead time of 3 weeks! I ended up, after 28 years a manager, with a degree and an HNC in print and the ability to change a whole global companies identity printed and delivered worldwide in just a weekend.
There were unforgettable characters, like the little old man who looked 90 and ran the Heidelberg letterpress machine. He was always covered in ink, had no teeth and there was always a half eaten jam sandwich laying on the side with ink finger prints pressed into the bread.
The Directors were old brothers, they were chalk and cheese and had numerous arguments. One was very serious, punctual and fastidious. The other was vivacious cheeky and lived life on the edge. It was fun watching them follow each other into each others offices arguing and disagreeing. The statement I remember was when there was no agreement one would comment on the others choice of colour for his office and striding away would say puce and the other shouted out pink!
It was the best job ever and the minute I started it I couldn't wait to get in in the morning and didn't want to leave I couldn't do enough and it was a magical feeling I was hooked on print! I worked alongside a man who was just like the couple who wore the same clothes in Ever Decreasing Circles Howard. He was a man of routine and was so funny, the whole firm was a team we all worked well together and everyone was lovely.
In the end of my working career I was on call 24/7 and remember having a day off and being in the toilet in Ikea while my mother stood outside with my children, I got a call from my work and had a conversation with my boss while sitting on the loo!
I was totally immersed in my career and it really did matter. Looking back on it I wonder why it mattered. Did those deadlines we broke our necks to meet really have to be so tight? Did the added word or insignificant correction really have to be carried out so creating a reprint? Did all those out of hours put in really make a difference. All those times when I missed my children growing up while trying to juggle my work with family I can only feel now I did the wrong thing.
Working hard for lots of money and a career meant I missed a lot of my children's lives. I always wanted to be a housewife, bring my children up and be at home when they came back home from school, just like my mother was for me. Life does not always pan out the way you want it to and I had no choice but to work and leave my children with my mother.
Having moved to the outback of France and since lost everything, I realise that money isn't happiness and isn't needed in great quantities. Money causes great worries and we live very simply now. We don't have much but we have each other. Family is the most important thing ever we are making up for all the times I was not there.
So back to original question, did it really matter? In life we make choices and in the cold light of the day you might realise that the choice was not really the right one but at the time it mattered!
All I know is life is short, family is precious and money isn't everything
I worked my way up in the industry, starting as a telephonist, receptionist, clerk in a quaint old fashioned printing factory where they still used hot metal and everything was a craft and produced by experienced men by hand. It was a slow industry then and to print a letterhead had a lead time of 3 weeks! I ended up, after 28 years a manager, with a degree and an HNC in print and the ability to change a whole global companies identity printed and delivered worldwide in just a weekend.
There were unforgettable characters, like the little old man who looked 90 and ran the Heidelberg letterpress machine. He was always covered in ink, had no teeth and there was always a half eaten jam sandwich laying on the side with ink finger prints pressed into the bread.
The Directors were old brothers, they were chalk and cheese and had numerous arguments. One was very serious, punctual and fastidious. The other was vivacious cheeky and lived life on the edge. It was fun watching them follow each other into each others offices arguing and disagreeing. The statement I remember was when there was no agreement one would comment on the others choice of colour for his office and striding away would say puce and the other shouted out pink!
It was the best job ever and the minute I started it I couldn't wait to get in in the morning and didn't want to leave I couldn't do enough and it was a magical feeling I was hooked on print! I worked alongside a man who was just like the couple who wore the same clothes in Ever Decreasing Circles Howard. He was a man of routine and was so funny, the whole firm was a team we all worked well together and everyone was lovely.
In the end of my working career I was on call 24/7 and remember having a day off and being in the toilet in Ikea while my mother stood outside with my children, I got a call from my work and had a conversation with my boss while sitting on the loo!
I was totally immersed in my career and it really did matter. Looking back on it I wonder why it mattered. Did those deadlines we broke our necks to meet really have to be so tight? Did the added word or insignificant correction really have to be carried out so creating a reprint? Did all those out of hours put in really make a difference. All those times when I missed my children growing up while trying to juggle my work with family I can only feel now I did the wrong thing.
Working hard for lots of money and a career meant I missed a lot of my children's lives. I always wanted to be a housewife, bring my children up and be at home when they came back home from school, just like my mother was for me. Life does not always pan out the way you want it to and I had no choice but to work and leave my children with my mother.
Having moved to the outback of France and since lost everything, I realise that money isn't happiness and isn't needed in great quantities. Money causes great worries and we live very simply now. We don't have much but we have each other. Family is the most important thing ever we are making up for all the times I was not there.
So back to original question, did it really matter? In life we make choices and in the cold light of the day you might realise that the choice was not really the right one but at the time it mattered!
All I know is life is short, family is precious and money isn't everything
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