by Maureen Barclay
and researched by Sheila Carpenter.
This is truly a tale within a tale. The larger story is a nostalgic journey through a remarkable century, which began with no domestic electricity, no motorised vehicles and a life expectancy of just forty-seven years, and yet saw technological, scientific, medical and social achievements unsurpassed in history.
My parents were born right at the beginning of the century in the county of Sussex, on England’s south coast. But Dad was a country-boy and Mum a town-girl and in many ways their childhoods were very different. They lived almost to the century’s end, and might be described as an “ordinary” couple, surviving two world wars, appreciating the birth of a National Health Service, viewing in wonder a man walk on the moon, and enjoying a better standard of living than they had ever dreamed possible, for example.
However, along the way, they had their share of tragedy and loss, endured hardship and disappointment, but they always appreciated the blessings that were bestowed upon them and were “extraordinary” in that they left their mark on anyone who was privileged to know them.
The story within is their story, and how their lives, and the lives of all of us, intertwine with the personal and public events that happen around us.