Jumping ahead to 1963 - Jeremy's birth
9th October 2007
Dear Jeremy,
Last week was your 44th birthday so you have been much in my thoughts remembering the day you were born. It was the 6th October in the Principal's house at Mufulira Teacher Training College.
Labour continued on and off all day, nothing too bad, and Dr O'Connolly (Mrs) (she and her husband were Irish and much involved with horse racing) came to visit me. She said she could not tell how things were going with natural childbirth people, as she preferred the Italian women because the more noise they made the more presents their husbands brought them. So Dad and I went for a walk while she went home to buy bread for her children.
Jill, Celia and Timothy went off to watch television with the students in the hall. It was a Lassie film and you arrived about 6 pm. Dr O'Connolly had returned in time and Dad helped with the delivery. Her husband arrived after it was all over and took a cursory interest and then left his wife to see to you and to me. He and Dad went off to the lounge to have a beer and celebrate.
That evening all the members of staff came round to visit the new born child and I remember one young man, Albert Nixon, sitting on the pressure cooker which was used for sterilizing something - can't remember what - and gazed in wonder at this miracle.
Dad attended to me with loving care and soon I was up and about again. He had sent telegrams to Pop, Granny Sadler and Christopher who was at Waterford School at the time. We named you Laurence Jeremy after Grandpa Sadler who had died earlier that year but wanted to call you Jeremy though it is your second name. You had to have a J in the middle of your names like your father, brothers and sisters.
No need to tell you how much we all loved you.
Thinking of your birthday has brought back memories of birthdays we celebrated when I was a child. Nothing much has changed. We always had a party with cake, candles and presents. There were no birthday cards then, they became popular much later. As well as cake and sweets there was jelly and cool drink, fizzy ones in individual bottles of different flavours and colours. These were a special treat which we drank through straws. We did not have fizzy drinks on tap as children drink today or bought fruit drinks. We made our own. Oranges were bought in bags and these we squeezed ourselves. Or else we would go down the garden and pick a lemon or a lime which we squeezed, added sugar and water and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda to make it fizz - very refreshing on hot summer days.
At our parties we played games organised by our parents and all had a very happy time.
Two birthday presents I remember well. One was the brass vase which still stands on my mantelpiece. My Father made that from the log of a ship which had been dredged up from the Buffalo Harbour. The name of the ship was the Cherub. The other was a silver watch on my 16th birthday. What a thrill that was it made me feel so grown-up.
I did not have a special party on my 21st birthday as I was still at Rhodes University and Dad and I were already engaged to be married. He came down from Basutoland took me to dinner at an hotel. This made me feel even more grown-up. My parents gave me a beautiful leather dressing case which I still have and Dad gave me a gold dressing table set of mirror, brush comb and powder box.
And now it is time for you to phone me so I must stop.
Love you, Mum