The photo opposite is of my half-sister aged 7 years old, taken in 1937. My cousin delighted me by giving me this just last week. I had never seen it before, but then I never met my half-sister, so it's not surprising. The first thing that struck me was that she looked so much like my father.
By the time I was born to Dad's second wife, my mother, the little girl in the photograph was 17 years old. She died aged 40 years, when I was just 23 years old and had just given birth to #2 son.
I have never been really curious about her because she was too far removed from me, (her living all in life in the USA and me in the Welsh Valleys in South Wales) but seeing this photo of an ordinary little girl and realising that we had the same dad, has made me wonder more about her life as a child.
The last time Dad saw her she was ten years old, so this must have been his last memory of her. It's all so sad, but then all divorces are sad, and it's hard for the children who are caught up in it. I had both my parents, living together, until my mother died, and then Dad stayed on his own. My own children were not as fortunate. Their Dad and I split up when they were 8 & 12 years respectively.
Somehow this photo has made me melancholy and I don't know why. I shall treasure it though and buy a nice silver frame for it. It will be a reminder that life is fragile and circumstances unavoidable. I believe that everything is mapped out for us.
By the time I was born to Dad's second wife, my mother, the little girl in the photograph was 17 years old. She died aged 40 years, when I was just 23 years old and had just given birth to #2 son.
I have never been really curious about her because she was too far removed from me, (her living all in life in the USA and me in the Welsh Valleys in South Wales) but seeing this photo of an ordinary little girl and realising that we had the same dad, has made me wonder more about her life as a child.
The last time Dad saw her she was ten years old, so this must have been his last memory of her. It's all so sad, but then all divorces are sad, and it's hard for the children who are caught up in it. I had both my parents, living together, until my mother died, and then Dad stayed on his own. My own children were not as fortunate. Their Dad and I split up when they were 8 & 12 years respectively.
Somehow this photo has made me melancholy and I don't know why. I shall treasure it though and buy a nice silver frame for it. It will be a reminder that life is fragile and circumstances unavoidable. I believe that everything is mapped out for us.
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