Cigarette cards

Dad and Ma smoked very heavily, three packets a day (60). Of course in those days there wasn't the sort of advertising we have today, so it was never even thought of as being a medical urgency. Dad started as soon as he became an usher at the local bio and these fags eventually killed him. In those days you would collect cigarette cards with each packet and this he did, carefully sorting and filing them away in boxes, and very proud of them he was too. We have these cards to this very day.

Dennis attack

Dennis was a short, fat boy with a lisp and he 'fancied' me. He was always at our house, arriving at any time, and staying for ages. It didn't bother me either way, whether he was around or not. He was always nervous of Spike as a puppy, and when he became a fully grown bulldog, he literally quaked in his shoes. It made the lisp even worse. One Sunday morning we were all sitting on the divan couch talking when Spike came in and jumped up next to Dennis, putting his large meaty paw on his chest to greet him. Dennis started screeching and jiggling up and down to get rid of his bulk, and Spike's paw cut his upper lip. Then chaos erupted. Dennis was screaming at the top of his voice, blood was running down on to his shirt, Ma grabbed Spike and pushed him to the floor, and we all rushed over to ascertain the damage. His parents were wonderfully understanding, rerfusing all medical payment for the stitches, and went off gracefully and gratefully taking their blubbering blob with them. Of course he never came over to our house again, just admired me from afar!

Boys are more important than girls

One of my dreams was to become a doctor, but there wasn't enough money to send me to medical school, and of course my grades were never good enough. But of course Ian had to be educated. He was the son and the future breadwinner in the family.

He had wanted to become an Accountant ever since I can remember, perhaps because Ma was a Bookkeeper, and he was very attached to her. Also, he could do this part -time, working as an articled clerk in the day and going to University at night. In this way he would be earning at the same time, thus not be a drain on the household. I was told to go to work and went on an interview in my last year at school. The first thing I saw when I walked out of the lift were six or eight typists sitting silently and expressionlessly in a row, tap tap tapping on their machines. It was gruesome, so I turned and fled. At that time the Government were prepared to fund teacher's studies as long as they paid every penny back after qualifying. Dad went with me to Teacher's Training College in Johannesburg and he signed on the dotted line (as I was a minor).

Thank goodness for that interview. I probably wouldn't have had such a fulfilling career if I hadn't been forced to go to it. Oh yes, and I have travelled extensively because of it too.

Nightmarish night

When I was about 7 or 8 (I supose a lot happened in these particular years), I saw Ian having an epileptic fit. He had Petit Mal Epilepsy, which is referred to as 'absence siezures' these days. They occur mostly in young children, don't affect their growth in any way, mentally or physically and they outgrow them in their teens. But 50 years ago they were quite serious and little was known about them.

We shared a bedroom, and one night while Ma was lying on the end of his bed, talking to him just before bedtime, she suddenly yelled 'Harry, switch the light on', and rushed to grab him. She told me to 'get out, get out, get out' and I was foisted from the house and found myself, barefoot on a Wintery night, wandering up and down our garden path, waiting for the doctor who had been summoned. I had never felt so scared in all my (short) life. I remember shaking with cold and fear, and sobbing, while begging God to please let him live. This had some profound consequences for my life. Firstly, it cemented me to my little brother forever, providing a fierce 'motherly' instinct that has made me protect him ever since. Also, it made me very nervous and unsure about doctors and wierd health problems! Mine and others!