We Thought You Knew

By Philippa Gerry

This book relates a slice of life that had its ups and downs due to failure of communication. Over to you, dear reader, to decide if it's of interest or help. I hope so. My parents and I lived happily on a tea estate beside the jungle in south India. My mother was my best friend. When I was five they brought me home by boat to England on leave. With no goodbye, warning or explanation they returned to India without me. I found myself in an Elizabethan manor house on a small farm in Somerset, with a Quaker uncle and aunt, four cousins, a wise nanny, and many evacuees. Farm life was exciting - a few cows, a horse, sheep, pigs, chickens, fields, orchards, a wood - always busy. I was upset, missing my adored mother. Her own mother, my Granny, was a great comfort, she led me gently into the Christian faith, which has been an important part of my life. I did well at school, winning a scholarship in 1949 to Oxford. The war meant my parents and I were apart for twelve years. There were airmail letters and one phone call of 3 minutes.They returned in 1949 to an England that had changed, expecting a rapturous reception from me. They had changed; I hardly knew them. I waited for an explanation. None came. I was tongue tied. They said I was a great disappointment. It was awful. I worked as a secretary, a registered nurse, a school cook, in London, Toronto, Bristol. After my parents' early deaths I got answers to my questions from an aunt who knew my mother well. What a lot could have been prevented by communication. I began to understand and learn to forgive. With the help of the God who loves us all, and some loving cousins and friends, my Humpty Dumpty life is patched together. Life is full, there aren't enough hours in the day. Winston Churchill said in his address to Harrow School on 29th October 1941: "Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never - in nothing. . . except to convictions of honour and good sense." Quote from a friend: "It's your fault I had to stay up to midnight to finish it." Emily.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1916438121
• ISBN13: 9781916438125
• Release Date: July 2018
• Publisher: 978-1-9164381-2-5
• Length: 68 Pages
• Weight: 0.23 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"