Helen McAnulty

When it was suggested to me that the Oral History Group contribute to an article about how they faced difficult times in their lives, I was tempted to begin with a quote from some famous thinker about hard times.

But none that I researched seemed to fit the present difficulties which we are all facing world-wide, so I settled for John Lennon.

Certainly, in our lifetimes we have encountered nothing like it, but almost exactly one hundred years ago the population of the world was facing another similar pandemic the, so-called, Spanish flu of which 14 people in Orange died. But the rest of the community survived! And thrived!

The Oral History Group is in temporary recess at the moment but still vocal on their phones or on email. Some even use snail mail! So, I have been able to put to them the question : “Tell me what difficulties you have faced in your long lifetimes and how did you get through them?” 

One of the first respondents was Meg.

“The thing that shaped my whole life”, she said, “happened in 1946 when I was six and caught rheumatic fever. I was kept in bed lying down, not able to sit up, so as not to strain my heart to give it a chance to heal.

“It finally did, but not for such a long time. The doctors said that once my temperature went down for 48 hours I could get up.

“After initial fevers subsided and I improved, each morning my temperature would be normal and I would be so excited, then each evening it would have risen and I was devastated, because there was still infection.

“This went on for twelve months and, being a child, I could see no end to the torment. It taught me at a young age that, in life, you just had to put up with some things and there is no escape. I have carried this idea through life to some degree, sometimes for the best, sometimes not.

“I used to read, write stories and poetry, and play with a box of buttons on a tray pretending they were a class of children and I was a teacher. Some buttons were good and a few buttons, which I didn’t like, were always the naughty ones. Poor buttons! Fortunately, I had a vivid imagination which I needed.

“I had few toys as it was just after the war and most children then had very few. I listened to the radio serial The Search for the Golden Boomerang and looked forward to The Argonauts Club each day. I think it was at that time that I developed my love of classical music because I often listened to it.

“Each Sunday afternoon, a girl who was a year older than I from a neighbouring farm, came to play with me.  I suspect her mother made her come, and I will be eternally grateful to Mrs P. for being so thoughtful. Dorothy was the only little friend I ever really saw.

“The following year my temperature returned to normal and I was allowed up but still stayed home while my mother taught me on correspondence.

“The real difficulty came when I was eight and returned to a school of 650 children. I shall never forget my first day, and the NOISE!  I felt I was drowning in it. I felt I couldn’t think! I was not used to other children and they were not used to me! I did have trouble making friends and was always so pleased to get home to my only real friend, my kitten.

“Looking back, it seems those years of isolation did impact upon my childhood and in other ways upon my whole life. They taught me resilience in times of difficulty but also convinced me that solitude can be companionable. Important life lessons.” 

Glenna had a different experience.

“My father was a clever man who could turn his hand to just about anything. However, he was also very intolerant and could not work with others, either above or below him.When I was about six, he ran out of money and had to sell the family home. We then moved into a factory premises he owned in Bexley.

“Dad installed two caravans, one each for bedrooms and there was a workbench along a nearby wall which fulfilled many needs. We also had a sofa between the two caravans. Halfway up the factory was a gas ring which was Mum’s only source of power for cooking.

“The bathroom was at the front of the building. It consisted of a handbasin, shower and toilet but it was only half roofed. If you needed to use the toilet when it was raining you just got wet!

Mum lasted about twelve months, then packed me up and we moved to the country!”

Glenna survived the privations of that period of her life and became a successful teacher.

These are just two of the stories of difficult times in the lives of the oral history group and there are more to come.

Copyright, Helen McAnulty. March, 2020.