Blog talkers is back
Not that blog talkers went away, I've just neglected to respond for a few weeks, which is shame as the questions have been good. Life has been a bit busy, and I have tried to keep up my NaBloPoMo postings too...
Ironically, this week's question isn't one which I can give such a great answer to, but I'll use it to tell you a little about myself
So, with so many kids, mum stayed at home with a more-than-full-time job of being mum, and dad found work wherever possible to keep the family afloat. I remember him working on road building and electricity pylon building in the area, also some factory work, general building work and, for a short while, running a roofing company. He also liked a flutter on the gee-gees, and was sometimes successful on that!
So what influence did this have on my choice to be a Priest in the
Church of England? Hmmmmm. In the end the message I remember getting most clearly from my parents was 'do your best and be what you want to be'. I don't remember them lamenting their lot, I don't remember them moaning about their roles in life. I think that as long as one's family was provided for and one was happy that was, and indeed is, most important in life.
Ironically, this week's question isn't one which I can give such a great answer to, but I'll use it to tell you a little about myself
How did your parents’ careers impact your plans for a future career?Well, my parents didn't make career choices, they did what they did to feed and keep the family. Before I was born my mother was a military policewoman first in the air force and then in the army. My 'biological' father was killed but whilst I was still too young to remember my mum got together with a man from Ireland who became, to all intents and purposes, my dad. Dad was a gruff, hard, Northern Irishman. Roman Catholic and Republican to the core (note to US readers, 'republican' here means against Northern Ireland being a part of the United Kingdom). He came across to England to work as a 'Navvy' - heavy construction, road building, utilities building etc etc. He was somewhat older than my mother and had 13 children of his own, many of which had grown up and started families of their own (some of my step-siblings are older than my mum!). They were together for 25 years, until his death in the mid 1990s and had three children of their own, so at one point there were 10 children living in a 4 bedroom council house in a market town in Devon. The family was quite renowned in the area.
So, with so many kids, mum stayed at home with a more-than-full-time job of being mum, and dad found work wherever possible to keep the family afloat. I remember him working on road building and electricity pylon building in the area, also some factory work, general building work and, for a short while, running a roofing company. He also liked a flutter on the gee-gees, and was sometimes successful on that!
Church of England? Hmmmmm. In the end the message I remember getting most clearly from my parents was 'do your best and be what you want to be'. I don't remember them lamenting their lot, I don't remember them moaning about their roles in life. I think that as long as one's family was provided for and one was happy that was, and indeed is, most important in life.
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