October Origins

I was alerted to this idea by ffoto who, in turn, got the idea from Pontycylops where we each blip our inspirations/origins.
This is the inside page of Palgrave's Golden Treasury, a collection of poems that were very popular in the Edwardian period. It was given to me after my maternal grandfather died, the 'dearest husband'. Ad was my gran who died before him. She had Parkinson's in later life and you can see traces of that in her handwriting. This post portrays two different influences: family characteristics and self-education.
I find this inscription very touching. Yet, I advice you not to get sentimental. My grandmother could be a very difficult, contrary woman. I loved her but I was her favourite. She was clever, funny (she could be witty and breathtakingly coarse in the one sentence) but very moody and demanding. As one of my mother's friends says, 'she was a women born in the wrong time.' My grandfather, on the other hand, was gentle and easy-going. In fact, we had 'one of nature's gentlemen' engraved on his headstone. He had a great way with words; I remember him saying about a plump neighbour that she was 'shaped like a mermaid.' He also used to write poetry for my gran.
Both left school at an early age as was expected of their class. And the only books I remember in their flat were Gramps' Gren Annuals but as this post shows, they still enjoyed poetry despite a lack of education. My mum too left school at an early age but there were always books in the house. Granted, these were somewhat eclectic as Harold Robbins nestled up to D.H. Lawrence. Mum prefers a quieter read these days and she's become quite a fan of Barbara Pym and Tessa Hadley. I too left school at sixteen which must have been a disappointment as I had the privileges they lacked. Luckily, I carried on with my education by reading widely and randomly via various council libraries. I hope that by going to uni, albeit at a late age, redresses my teenage foolishness.