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% Original Children chapters
\chapter{Children}
Tony was offered a job with NATO and he never could say why he turned
it down.
Life would have been very different, I suppose, and probably much
nicer for he never really settled to the work and factory environment
and suffered with his health -- probably due to frustration. But good
things happened too and we were able to build our very own house in
Leamington Spa which was an easy distance from his work in Coventry
at the GEC (General Electric Company)
Tony's health suffered when we got back to England due to a
combination of circumstances, I suppose factory life was very
different from the long and interesting journeys he made in Turkey and
the whole way of life.
Of course he did not work in the factory, but the offices he
\textit{did} work in picked up the atmosphere of it and there were
rigid times to begin the day etc.
Certain foods like white bread, bananas, raspberries, cheese, etc, etc
upset him and gave him endless pain. We became friendly with a young
doctor who suspected an ulcer, but there were certain symptoms which
did \textit{not} point to an ulcer and he was able to prescribe
helpful medication. In one way I certainly hindered Tony's return to
good health! Behind our new house Leamington there had been a horse
paddock and after the grouling task of preparing this land for growing
vegetables (I worked and dug for many days and, by the end of the day,
I was bent double and could only stand up straight after a hot bath!)
I had plenty of time, for Tony went to Finland for three months when I
began this task (and a second time later on). By the time he came back
I had lovely vegetables growing (of course, because the soil had been
well-manured by the horses (I thought it was because of my genious!))
Someone gave me some raspberry canes and the fruit grew well. I would
pick some every three days and we would have a lovely desert but oh!
poor Tony -- the raspberries were so acidic that he would be bent
double with pain and I was responsible. No Rennies in those days!
The saying goes -- ``New house, new baby''. And it was in Leamington
Spa that Elizabeth was born in July 1960. I had an ``uneasy''
pregnancy and had to go into hospital at Christmas 1959 for there was
a threatened miscarriage and the history of my pregnancies seemed to
be repeating itself. I never learned the reason for my inability to
carry a baby.
Anyway this baby was determined to ``hang on'' and in July, Elizabeth
was born and we were ``over the moon''. Nobody had ever had a baby but
me! She was good and perfect and even Tony, who had shown no tendency
towards fatherhood proved to be proud and helpful.
My parents were very proud of their first grandchild and we often
drove to Hampshire to spend weekends with them.
But their relief and pleasure at our being back in England was
short-lived because, when Elizabeth was two, Tony was offered a top
job in Nigeria which he accepted and I was pleased to go with him. But
at that time we did not appreciate that West Africa was the ``back
end'' of Africa. Nigeria is the most heavily-populated country of
Africa, offers a terrible climate and is renowned for the spread of
Malaria -- although the neighboring country of Ghana is known as the
white mans grave. When the missionaries went to this coastline they
knew they would be dead within six months and they believed that the
onset of malaria was caused by the heavy mists rising from the swamps
when, in fact, it was the bite of the mosquito. Now there is
medication to prevent this dreadful disease but even then white people
would “forget” to taker the easy weekly tablet and one employee of the
GEC died whilst we were there failing to observe the basic rules. We
arrived in Nigeria in 1962 which was two years after independence,
Elizabeth was two and I have to mention the memory of her stopping and
pulling up her knickers while we were crossing from the plane to the
airport building in Geneva! En route for Lagos! Flying into the heat
and humidity of Lagos was like landing in hot soup after the pleasant
European atmosphere.
\chapter{Children, alternative version}
Returning to England from Turkey was very different and the five years
we spent there had their difficulties. Tony had ``almost a gastric
ulcer'' according to the doctor; he did not settle down to factory
life and felt inhibited by the set hours. He had been used to
travelling long distances in Turkey and having quite an adventurous
way of life.
We built a house in Leamington Spa (close to the GEC in Coventry),
bought new furniture and developed the garden (well I did -- it was a
useful time for this when Tony went off to Finland for two business
trips -- one of three months and one of ten weeks). I took off the
turn and then dug deep and grew marvellous vegetables (and raspberries
-- almost killed Tony with the acid!) Nothing to it! Of course, the
ground had been a horse paddock and so was very well-manured.
All this exercise had to stop when I became pregnant with Elizabeth. I
had to be extra careful as I had had two miscarriages. She arrived in
July 1960 -- no-one but me had ever had a baby! We had to wait for
seven years.
Tony was offered a wonderful promotion in Nigeria and accepted it but
first had to undergo medical tests which he passed. The doctror's way
of telling him was to say ``Well old chap, I've got some bad news for
you -- you will be able to go to Nigeria''!
Leaving the house and putting the furniture into storage was
heartbreaking for me but, in no way, did I ever inhibit Tony in his
career hard though it was at times. Grandparents were incosolable at
the thought of Elizabeth being taken to that ``God-forsaken
place''. The two grandmothers came to Liverpool to see Elizabeth and I
embark on the ship which was to take us to Nigeria -- 13 days. Tony
had flown on ahead.
The first five days were hell for me as I was terribly
seasick. Crossing the Bay of Biscany to the Canary Islands in March
was the worst time of the year but I had to keep going because
Elizabeth loved her food. I had to carry her up two flights of stairs
to the childrens' restaurant for every meal -- hopefully finding a
place for her by the door so that I could exit quickly to the
bathroom!
After five days and the stop in the Canaries a stewardess brought me a
bottle of soda water and six dry biscuits saying ``I don't think you
feel very well but try this.'' How observant and not well-timed but it
worked and I felt well enough to enjoy my food. In fact, Tony told me
I ``waddled'' off the ship. One can understand the temptation of
shipboard romances. The whole atmosphere was wonderfull -- the
incredible inky-blue of the sea in the moonlight, the smooth passage
of the ship through the water after the awful turmoil and the constant
playing of ``Moonriver'' over the sound system. I shall always love
that song (as I write this in September 2012, I hear that Andy
Williams, the composer, died yesterday; what a lovely song and tune he
left).
So we had a lovely time. It was truly great to see Tony again. But oh!
Arriving in Lagos was like walking into pea soup with the temperature
and humidity at impossible levels!
Never mind, we were a family again.