Dear LPG readers, 

When I was growing up, all the older people in my life seemed to feel that, once you get to a certain age, you should start to write your memoirs. But times have changed so much since those days although lately, I have been getting that memoir feeling myself.  There is only one problem really, I have no idea where to start. 

So, while I continue to figure that out, I thought a short snippet of my thoughts on life might get me focussed a bit. 

This year will be the 61st anniversary of Jamaica’s independence and thinking about that always gets me thinking about why I ended up in Britain so, this year, I thought that as good a reason as any to share a bit of my independence story with LPG. 

I got married a couple of years before 1961, and many people I know had answered the call to help England rebuild after WWII.  My husband came over to pave the way for me and I found myself on the way to join him in the January of that year. The trip left me feeling queasy and the last stop on the long journey left me with a view of the street outside Paddington Station.  I remember all the big brick houses looking very much like a bread factory back home, and that sight left me asking myself if all they do in England is to make bread.  

My other overriding first impression of my new surroundings was of how cold it was. but I settled into my new life and before I knew it my first child was on the way.  I have to say that I thought that Jamaica’s independence, and a year or two in England, would make so much difference to my life but after the parties and official functions that happened for the independence celebrations the Jamaican community just got back to their normal lives.   I have to say that as a community, we enjoyed weekly get-togethers.  There were the parties, picnics, outings and then all the birthdays, christenings and weddings which provided lots of reasons for us to exercise our sense of occasion and we ladies, no matter where we come from are always happy for another reason to get all dressed up.

We were only ever going to be here for a few years, and I remember buying a trunk and packing all the things that I was going to take back with us when we returned home but, it would take a lot of saving before we could afford the fare and before I knew it, we had two young children, a job and commitments.  Then the years come and go before you know it and I retired.

I have so many friends who never did, but I did pack up and go home only to find that the place I left was not the place I went back to.  So much has changed since I left and so, after a two-year holiday, I am back in England.

I know so many friends who have had a very similar experience to mine throughout their lives.  Some got here a bit earlier than me, and others left it a bit later, but I feel as if my independence journey started at about the same time as Jamaica’s although my life has turned out to be a lot more independent of Jamaica’s than I thought it would.

So, while I congratulate that little island on her anniversary journey each year, I suppose that this is my way of taking stock of mine.

PD, Grove Park