My amazing Nan is 90 years old on Boxing Day 2013 and I want to broadcast to the world (well at least anyone that cares to read my post) that she is brilliant and I love her dearly.
Video messages from friends and family have been edited together to help celebrate Nan’s birthday and whilst I am featured, the written word is a more comfortable medium for me than its spoken equivalent. This post, which didn’t have to be completed in one take, has been crafted to give Nan a celebratory hip hip hooray and something she can easily share if she’s not too embarrassed.
One of the things that I find odd about celebrating peoples’ lives is that we tend to do it publicly when they die. This is mad; I think that a person you feel is worthy of a glowing eulogy should know the high regard you hold them in whilst they are still living and breathing and able to appreciate the sentiment.
My Nan, Gladys Semon was born in December 1923 in London. She is the matriarch of our family, remains in full possession of her faculties, is mobile and still lives in her own home. Nan has set the standard in her extended family for long and happy life and that’s in spite of the fact that when she was born, I understand that she was small enough to fit into a shoebox. At a time of high infant mortality she had a fighting spirit that served her well, saw her come through the Blitz and still sees her attacking life with gusto. Nowadays she even has an email address, a laptop and a mobile phone.
Glad has an indomitable spirit and I am going to share some stories with you that will help you to understand why she continues to inspire the families.
Up until a year or two ago, Nan used to devote every Friday to Age Concern. She helped out at a centre that ensured that the elderly got a decent meal and a chance to socialise with their peers. Nan used to refer to her time as “helping the old people” when the irony was that she was older than a lot of the characters she was helping.
In 1975, Nan lost her husband Harry. My grandad had a massive heart attack that took him out of the game of life in one fell swoop - Glad was widowed at 51! That event turned life upside down for her but she came through that trauma stronger and more determined.
Nan and Grandad had a traditional type of relationship where the demarcation lines were clearly drawn between the gender roles. Without Harry, Glad had to do/learn everything that he used to manage and she did it well too. Having taken control of the finances, she later sold the marital home, moved within London, then later moved out of London and then moved once more nearly twenty years ago. During this time she worked hard, holding down a variety of jobs (often more than one at a time) and paid her own way in the world.
Smoking was a significant contributory factor in Harry’s demise; Nan subsequently took the decision to put an end to her own smoking habit. She didn’t do it by halves either, she went cold turkey until she beat it. Bearing in mind that she had smoked since she was a teenager, quitting in that way was quite a show of willpower. I only used her story last week to try and inspire some of my young work colleagues who were complaining about how hard it is to quit.
One of the next things that Nan set about doing was learning to drive. She had her first driving lessons in her fifties, went on to pass her test and then bought herself a car. An orangey-red mark 1 Ford Escort. She ditched the car and the whole driving thing a little later but that’s another story!
Nan’s roles have included being a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a grandmother and now a great grandmother. In terms of parenting; if you judge a mother by the quality of their offspring then there is no doubt that Nan was a great influence (my mum and my uncle Roger are successful, caring and decent people).
Aside from one short term courtship, my Nan has been single for the vast majority of my life and whilst there is a part of me that feels a little sorry that she never found new love, the reality is that she honours grandad’s memory and wasn’t prepared to sacrifice her new found independence and control to any chap that didn’t meet the high standards set by Harry. More proof that she’s made of tough stuff!
On the subject of stuff, I have to thank Glad for some of my treasured Seventies ‘things’; think Beefeater plates, wall art and clocks. This post is about the passage of time and what better way of contemplating time than horology? Harry, a toolmaker by trade, used to repair clocks for himself and for his friends. His fascination for time may well have rubbed off on me, I love watches and have inherited and repaired a few of Harry and Glad’s clocks too. Every time I look at the Metamec Sunburst or the Kern torsion clock, I think of her.
Nan, thanks ever so much for those clocks.
And to continue the time related theme, whilst I can’t say here’s to another ninety years, I reckon that at least another ten are a safe bet. Nan, 90 is a bloody good achievement but there’s more to do; here’s to a century – I am looking forward to reading your note from Her Majesty.
And on that subject – if you saw Glad and Liz together, I swear you’d struggle to tell them apart. Seriously, the best ‘tell’ would be the accents (and I prefer Nan’s).
Nan, I love you, Happy Birthday. I hope you like the post and that you are enjoying all the attention you are getting from your extended family whilst you are reading it.
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Video messages from friends and family have been edited together to help celebrate Nan’s birthday and whilst I am featured, the written word is a more comfortable medium for me than its spoken equivalent. This post, which didn’t have to be completed in one take, has been crafted to give Nan a celebratory hip hip hooray and something she can easily share if she’s not too embarrassed.
One of the things that I find odd about celebrating peoples’ lives is that we tend to do it publicly when they die. This is mad; I think that a person you feel is worthy of a glowing eulogy should know the high regard you hold them in whilst they are still living and breathing and able to appreciate the sentiment.
My Nan, Gladys Semon was born in December 1923 in London. She is the matriarch of our family, remains in full possession of her faculties, is mobile and still lives in her own home. Nan has set the standard in her extended family for long and happy life and that’s in spite of the fact that when she was born, I understand that she was small enough to fit into a shoebox. At a time of high infant mortality she had a fighting spirit that served her well, saw her come through the Blitz and still sees her attacking life with gusto. Nowadays she even has an email address, a laptop and a mobile phone.
Glad has an indomitable spirit and I am going to share some stories with you that will help you to understand why she continues to inspire the families.
Up until a year or two ago, Nan used to devote every Friday to Age Concern. She helped out at a centre that ensured that the elderly got a decent meal and a chance to socialise with their peers. Nan used to refer to her time as “helping the old people” when the irony was that she was older than a lot of the characters she was helping.
In 1975, Nan lost her husband Harry. My grandad had a massive heart attack that took him out of the game of life in one fell swoop - Glad was widowed at 51! That event turned life upside down for her but she came through that trauma stronger and more determined.
Nan and Grandad had a traditional type of relationship where the demarcation lines were clearly drawn between the gender roles. Without Harry, Glad had to do/learn everything that he used to manage and she did it well too. Having taken control of the finances, she later sold the marital home, moved within London, then later moved out of London and then moved once more nearly twenty years ago. During this time she worked hard, holding down a variety of jobs (often more than one at a time) and paid her own way in the world.
Smoking was a significant contributory factor in Harry’s demise; Nan subsequently took the decision to put an end to her own smoking habit. She didn’t do it by halves either, she went cold turkey until she beat it. Bearing in mind that she had smoked since she was a teenager, quitting in that way was quite a show of willpower. I only used her story last week to try and inspire some of my young work colleagues who were complaining about how hard it is to quit.
One of the next things that Nan set about doing was learning to drive. She had her first driving lessons in her fifties, went on to pass her test and then bought herself a car. An orangey-red mark 1 Ford Escort. She ditched the car and the whole driving thing a little later but that’s another story!
Nan’s roles have included being a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a grandmother and now a great grandmother. In terms of parenting; if you judge a mother by the quality of their offspring then there is no doubt that Nan was a great influence (my mum and my uncle Roger are successful, caring and decent people).
Aside from one short term courtship, my Nan has been single for the vast majority of my life and whilst there is a part of me that feels a little sorry that she never found new love, the reality is that she honours grandad’s memory and wasn’t prepared to sacrifice her new found independence and control to any chap that didn’t meet the high standards set by Harry. More proof that she’s made of tough stuff!
On the subject of stuff, I have to thank Glad for some of my treasured Seventies ‘things’; think Beefeater plates, wall art and clocks. This post is about the passage of time and what better way of contemplating time than horology? Harry, a toolmaker by trade, used to repair clocks for himself and for his friends. His fascination for time may well have rubbed off on me, I love watches and have inherited and repaired a few of Harry and Glad’s clocks too. Every time I look at the Metamec Sunburst or the Kern torsion clock, I think of her.
Nan, thanks ever so much for those clocks.
And to continue the time related theme, whilst I can’t say here’s to another ninety years, I reckon that at least another ten are a safe bet. Nan, 90 is a bloody good achievement but there’s more to do; here’s to a century – I am looking forward to reading your note from Her Majesty.
And on that subject – if you saw Glad and Liz together, I swear you’d struggle to tell them apart. Seriously, the best ‘tell’ would be the accents (and I prefer Nan’s).
Nan, I love you, Happy Birthday. I hope you like the post and that you are enjoying all the attention you are getting from your extended family whilst you are reading it.
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