2023 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

PipneyJane

Liverpool_Anne said:

Hi all, just popping in to say my nephew is finally home from India and opened his Christmas present, the Blofeld bingo t shirt . He loves it, which is praise indeed from him. Thank you Pip for the heads up about that all those months ago
Take care everyone

I am so glad, @Liverpool_Anne.  I actually wore mine on Sunday to show it off to a cricket loving friend.

MrsCD said:

Sorry I've been Mia lately. My dad is extremely poorly and we've been setting up palliative care at home, with all that involves.
I have a spend to declare...
1 skirt, 2 pairs, possibly 3 pairs of trousers and 2 t shirts. I'll get around to working out coupons at some point. 

So sorry to hear about your dad, @MrsCD.  Big hugs.  Hope you had a really good sleep last night.

I hope he can be kept comfortable for as long as possible and that you get to spend quality time together.  I also hope he tells you all the stories, so you aren’t left wondering about what happened with that part of the family, or what he did when he was called up, etc.

- Pip

Gem-gem

@MrsCD, I'm so sorry to hear about your Dad. Yes, do get your Dad to tell you more stories about when he was young. I did this with my step father whilst sitting with him in his final weeks / days. 

I have been very busy at work and dealing with my step-father's affairs (post death). 

One spend to declare... a new cashmere jumper to replace the one that I shrank. 

6 coupons spent. 

Total Coupons Spent 24/66
Left 40/66

MrsCD

Thanks @ PipneyJane and @Gem-gem
I sat a couple of years ago and recorded my dad telling me about his childhood and National Service.  I learned a lot of things I hadn't known before, but I'm sure there are many more things I don't know! We're enjoying Talking Pictures TV at the moment while his pain is under control etc. 

Laura_Elsewhere

@MrsCD, I hope you have some lovely memories together with your dad and that you both find yourselves smiling more than you expect xx

I nailed my Mum down years ago for several hours and interrogated her about her teenage year in a TB sanatorium, taking pages of notes as she reminisced.
And last weekend when we visited my Mother-in-law, she said quite openly, "look, I'm 88, if there's anything you wanted to ask, get on and ask!!" and so, as Mr E isn't typically that interested in family history, I asked, and quite rapidly got lost in the names so grabbed my notebook and pencil and she was really thrilled as I jotted down names and years and streets and anecdotes and checked with her, "this was Jeannie who ran off with Bill, yes, and they lived over the fish shop on the High Street? Oh, that was JIM who lived over the fish shop - so who did Jim live with? No? Really? Gosh, that must have caused some gossip!" - we had a rare old time, and Mr E actually did get a bit interested at times... 

I'm lucky with my own family - Gran told me all the old stories in my childhood when I was parked with them, and Nana told me lots of family anecdotes repeatedly as she went senile, so I got it fairly firmly fixed in my memory how everyone reacted when Grandad Skipper left all his money to the housekeeper... and then when Gran went senile she actually thought I WAS my dad only aged about 16 or so (I was in my early 20s), and eventually I just tied my hair back, wore no makeup, chinos and a shirt, and went with it as it made her so happy, so I learnt a vast amount about the family in the 1950s... 

It's quite odd now as my parents ask me what happened in their own childhood or longer family history, as they only heard it all once in their own younger years, whereas I had it repeatedly...   

Cherryfudge

It may be that in the future, people will wish they'd asked us our stories. Maybe it's time we wrote them down, though I'm not sure anyone's going to believe me that I spent several years in 1942 talking about clothes...

Cherryfudge

Laura_Elsewhere said:

...how everyone reacted when Grandad Skipper left all his money to the housekeeper... 

Now my imagination is going into overdrive!

I had an episode when Mum was unwell and thought I was a friend back in the 1950s who could pass on a message to her parents to say she was stuck at the office in London. Just for a short while I was transported into a world before my birth, and feel as though I had a privileged insight.

Laura_Elsewhere

@Cherryfudge, yes, I was quite touched by how much Gran talked happily on to me thinking I was her son - and I was very touched at how close they obviously were in his teenage years, too! 

Cherryfudge

That's very sweet @Laura_Elsewhere: both that they had the relationship and you were able to give it back to her for a while, and also that the resemblance is strong enough to bridge the gap.

CapricornLass

Mrs CD, hugs to you.  I hope both you and your dad are able to enjoy each other's company for a while.

I think its a very good idea to write down your memories and family history while you are still able to do so.  My dad probably has lots of family stories, but they are locked inside his brain due to his dementia, and I won't get to hear them now.  

weenancyinAmerica

A friend of mine was doing a study how music of the 1940's could help people with dementia remember things. Several nursing homes here are trying it. Sometimes strange things will do it. My grandfather said he couldn't remember any of his cousins on one side of the family, but when I asked where the grandparents were buried, he suddenly remembered they were buried on the family farm and came up with the names of all of the cousins. He had been having dementia problems for years at that point. Other people I know have had success while looking at old photo albums and talking about the pictures. It just needs something to stir the memory sometimes.