“Let in the truth in! Embrace the real. Open your arms to the things you did not look for. For you will find what you did not seek, be given what you didn’t know you lacked and be lavished with the joy that takes your breath away.
Here are life’s riches next to you. Here in the faces of your friends, in the laughter of their children, in the tenderness of those who you love and work and lived with. This is community. Our end and our beginning. This is the best of everything we are.”
The above was from the end of the series Call the Midwife.
A series which most of the time made the harshness of the working-class people look bit rosier, but always highlighted the hardship that many of us went through in the late 50s and 60s.
Tough times they were, but community was key to survival for many.
I re-lived many of the scenes emotionally.
Such as the people living in squalor.
It took me back to my childhood. One of ours was in the front room of a 2 up 2 down terrace off Cannon St. with a family that couldn’t find work, so they rented the front room to me and my mam.
One the biggest memories of that room, was walking in and scaring the mice as they scurried behind the electric 2 bar fire. But I can assure you they weren’t as scared as I was knowing they were there as I went to sleep trying to get as close into mam as I could.
The reason I decided to write this blog (as I haven’t blogged for long time) is that although it seems so when hearing the constant bad news on tellie. The sense of community isn’t lost everywhere, but sadly, its mainly with the poorer areas, as once again it’s those areas where people need each other more.
The programme also reminded me of the some of the homes I lived in when I had my own children and helped create a close-knit community in Amber St and then again in Northern Road.
Happy memories, in the knowledge that we looked out for each other, we cared for each other, and we soothed each other’s heart aches.
Our children played in the road together and have great memories to this day and if anything went wrong in the area, we stood together for our rights and got things changed.
It’s what we need now more than ever, as the government have made a good job of turning many (frightened) people to go inwards this last few years. It serves their purpose I believe. But we really need to band together before society takes a darker turn.
We need to stand together and make the changes needed before our services fall beyond repair and they are at an alarming rate here in Middlesbrough.
Everyone can do something to help the community be strong again, everyone has a niche, a strength. Ask yourself what you can do to help.
It doesn’t have to be big and it doesn’t have to cost anything but time and passion and I can say from experience that the reward of knowing you’ve made a difference is huge.
Here are life’s riches next to you. Here in the faces of your friends, in the laughter of their children, in the tenderness of those who you love and work and lived with. This is community. Our end and our beginning. This is the best of everything we are.”
The above was from the end of the series Call the Midwife.
A series which most of the time made the harshness of the working-class people look bit rosier, but always highlighted the hardship that many of us went through in the late 50s and 60s.
Tough times they were, but community was key to survival for many.
I re-lived many of the scenes emotionally.
Such as the people living in squalor.
It took me back to my childhood. One of ours was in the front room of a 2 up 2 down terrace off Cannon St. with a family that couldn’t find work, so they rented the front room to me and my mam.
One the biggest memories of that room, was walking in and scaring the mice as they scurried behind the electric 2 bar fire. But I can assure you they weren’t as scared as I was knowing they were there as I went to sleep trying to get as close into mam as I could.
The reason I decided to write this blog (as I haven’t blogged for long time) is that although it seems so when hearing the constant bad news on tellie. The sense of community isn’t lost everywhere, but sadly, its mainly with the poorer areas, as once again it’s those areas where people need each other more.
The programme also reminded me of the some of the homes I lived in when I had my own children and helped create a close-knit community in Amber St and then again in Northern Road.
Happy memories, in the knowledge that we looked out for each other, we cared for each other, and we soothed each other’s heart aches.
Our children played in the road together and have great memories to this day and if anything went wrong in the area, we stood together for our rights and got things changed.
It’s what we need now more than ever, as the government have made a good job of turning many (frightened) people to go inwards this last few years. It serves their purpose I believe. But we really need to band together before society takes a darker turn.
We need to stand together and make the changes needed before our services fall beyond repair and they are at an alarming rate here in Middlesbrough.
Everyone can do something to help the community be strong again, everyone has a niche, a strength. Ask yourself what you can do to help.
It doesn’t have to be big and it doesn’t have to cost anything but time and passion and I can say from experience that the reward of knowing you’ve made a difference is huge.