I would enter the tiny shabby post war shop that was filled to the brim with sensible underwear, nothing to risky early post war years. The plump middle aged lady would look down on me from the other side of her glass counter. I would ask for a pair of Bear brand nylons and she would open the flat squarish boxes of several different shades of brown hose and a variety of deniers onto her counter. She would delicately pull back the tissue paper, so I could choose the ones Mum would prefer. I became pretty good at this from a very early age and when it came to my time to wear them - I knew exactly the ones I wanted.
You see there was never time for me to actually sit at my Mothers knee because she was always working, a woman who had a heart condition left with her from a bout of rheumatic fever as a child. She had survived the London Blitz but sadly lost my Father who was also inflicted with a similar heart condition and never made it through the war, in fact they were advised not to have children at all. The life lessons I learned from her example, were to keep living regardless and work hard to support myself and then in turn my children.
Mum was always busy; I don't remember her ever having a holiday. She did take me to Paris for a few days once but it was for some Hairdressing Competitions that she was required to be at for business purposes, we did get to see a show with the incomparable Josephine Baker.
Mum was an honest, feisty woman with a heart of gold; if someone was in trouble she would give them a hand up. She would provide work for people that she felt needed it, but wouldn't put up with dishonesty, they would soon be down the road if this occurred.
She believed to succeed in a career in life you had to be single minded; it was extremely important to have excellent presentation of yourself and whatever it was that you were selling.
Being a flamboyant and humorous person, she was often attracted to colourful and unusual characters that she would befriend, she enjoyed the company of people from all walks of life.
As well as working hard she did enjoy her one and a half days off a week. I enjoyed those precious times spent with her, except when she arranged to meet me at a bus stop and never turned up for hours, her time keeping was not that flash. When she did eventually show her face we would go to nice places for afternoon tea and cake like Fullers Tea shop at the back of Jaegers in Regent Street. I still can taste their fabulous coffee walnut cake, nothing in my lifetime has ever come close to that melt in the mouth delight. Then we would go on to C&A known as Coats an 'Ats and maybe buy a coat for me and something new for Mum. On Sundays we'd catch a Green-line Bus and go out of London to see some historical place in the country or in summer maybe take a River Boat on the Thames to Q Gardens or Greenwich. As a very special treat we would go on a train to Southend or Brighton, that would be a real adventure.
Mum and I loved the seaside, she loved the cockles, mussels and the whelks with lots of pepper and vinegar, can't say I ever got the hang of those, my preference was the sticky pink candy floss on a stick and the hot chips wrapped in newspaper. For all her busy life she taught me so much about how to embrace every moment and her love for me was endless. My beautiful, wonderful, wise Mother, my protector, my nurturer. A true warrior when she needed to be, she was so much more than just a pair of knees encased in her Bear brand 20 denier Nylons.
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