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I have chosen this pair of buttons in memory of my Aunty Ethel and her daughter. When my father was very young it was discovered that he had a congenital dislocation of the hips.

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He was treated in hospital and was fitted with callipers.

It was an exhaustive treatment programme and, for whatever reason, my grandparents were unable to support it. It so happened that my father’s aunt Ethel had recently lost her daughter to meningitis. So it was decided that it may help her, in her loss, to look after my father.

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My father lived with Aunty Ethel for several years.

In spite of the loss of her own child, Ethel looked after her nephew with great love and care. My father thrived under her care and they were very happy together. In due course, my father got better and his treatment came to an end. They continued to live happily together, until one day Ethel announced that she was taking my father, on a train, back to live with his 'real' mum and dad.

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 Back home he was introduced to his brother and sister.

 

I wanted to show this pair of buttons in thanks to aunt Ethel for the love and commitment shown to my father and in memory of her lost daughter (whose name I never knew).

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S. South