One hundred years ago today ......

On 11th April 1915 my Mum was born. Sadly no longer with us, she died just 6 days before her 87th birthday in 2002. Her favourite flowers were Freesias which is why I bought some on Thursday - the scent of them now fills my house as it did hers so often. I have the documents charting her life and and we always said that her lifetime probably saw more change in lifestyle than any other period. She was born at the beginning of World War One - large families, few mod cons, gas lighting, few motor vehicles, no free health service, education only to age 14, no votes for women (nor any other equality). She, like so many other women, had to cope alone with a baby (me) through the second World War as the men were away fighting without the modern communications we take for granted now - national news came by radio, personal news by letters, bad news by telegram. She rejoiced in the progress post-war - the opportunity I had to further my education and gain a professional qualification on (almost) equal footing with boys of my age. She lived to see my brother and sister married and have children. She embraced modern technology - her last purchase before she became ill in 2001 was a laptop so that she could e-mail my brother in Canada - she saw beautifully sharp, colour photographs of her grand-daughter's graduation on the same day it had happened  - something she would never have believed possible when she was one of 8 children and her eldest brother took a black and white photo of them all in about 1923 ! The only one of the 8 still alive is, of course, the 'ancient aunt' I mention so often - Hilda, now 94!
I took this photo to try to incorporate all the documents, her favourite flowers, and her wedding ring (which I now wear).
Sorry if you found it boring.