David Charles 4

Continuing the family saga! Nearly done!


I’ve chosen this pix to illustrate their marriage. They were married for nearly 45 years, chalk and cheese really, but they made it work. Here they are on some beach, Norfolk I suspect, and Pa is still in his tie, standards maintained but a smile on his face and a rather dinky little tea cup in his hand. Ma is sprawled on the sand, unusually not in shorts, with the wind in her hair, the remnants of a picnic all around. Pa usually hated beaches, he didn’t like the sand and he burnt just looking at the sun. But here he is – for her. She was an outdoor creature, a sun worshipper and she’s lured him out. In the picnic basket there would have been a copy of the Daily Telegraph and a pipe!
A traditional relationship in many ways but again maybe not. I think they expected the marriage to work and it mostly did. They adored each other but were very different people and this sometimes made things difficult. He was always kind and courteous, a real gentleman. He brought her chocolates and flowers every Friday night without fail but I think he found women quite mystifying – soldiers were far easier to understand!  During the early 70s when my brother and I had left home, there was a turning point. He was offered a new job and it meant moving. I have a feeling they had to come to a decision – split or move on together and make the most of it. They decided to move together and I think the last 20 years they had together were probably their most happy. They seemed close and companionable. They had their own separate interests yet always returned to their own little oasis, the house and garden.


Sadly Pa had a stroke just before his 70th birthday and it left him confined to a wheelchair but still sharp as a pin – the Daily Telegraph crossword polished off daily. Ma devoted herself to him but her own activities must have been curtailed. Shockingly and totally unexpectedly, she died very suddenly aged 66 and we were all left bereft. Faffing around trying to find a nursing home for Pa he said very good naturedly ‘oh no, I’m not going anywhere’. And he didn’t. A twist in the tale to finish with.



And it's Pa's birthday today - he would have been 93!