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1. Prompt Script
My name is Margaret Ann, my mother Mary Blackwell Patterson was
born on the 3rd
of July 1920, in the village of Kirkcowan in the county
of Wigtownshire, Scotland.
I didn’t know much about my mother’s childhood however in 1935
when she was just 15, she lost her mother due to diphtheria.
She was then taken out of school to look after the house and her
younger siblings.
In 1939 she left home to get married. My mother always told us that
her father cried on that day. She felt it wasn’t because he was losing
a daughter but that he was losing a house keeper.
Mum and dad worked the land together, mum had always been a
hard worker. She worked with Clydesdale horses, which were her
favourite. She called them gentle giants.
Her favourite time of the year was the harvest. They would start
early in the morning when the sun was rising and would still be
working at sunset.
She talked about the colours of the sky, it was like it was on fire with
all the reds and yellows, and just for that moment it was like she was
right back there.
In 1942 mum started her family, she had her first child, a son. Mum
then went on to have another 9 children, 6 boys and 4 girls.
As children we spent a lot time on the beach, dad would take the
boys fishing and the girls would beach comb with mum.
We would spend our summer holidays on the beach, where we
would play rounders, mums’ team would always win, so the boys
would complain that it was favouritism.
She also enjoyed watching us play football, where she of course
cheered on the girls.
Happy Days!

2. Mum was unfortunate enough to lose 3 of her children. She lost 2 of
her boys only 2 weeks apart. Mum and dad took us to look at the
flowers on the grave and my younger sister asked an innocent yet
beautiful question “Are the boys sleeping among the flowers?”
So, over a year later none of us could have expected to have one of
the other children asking mum a similar question, “is my sister
sleeping among the flowers?”
After losing her 3 children, my mother somehow found the strength
to carry on, with dad always being there by her side through it all.
Within the next 5 years, mum lost the sight in her right eye.
However, with love and support of her family, she continued to be
the strong-minded woman we all knew her to be.
As time went on, she watched the rest of her children grow and
make their way in the world.
At the start of ’81 my dad passed away. So, from then on, my mother
lived by herself. Always with her family close by.
She still loved to be outdoors, being in her garden and walks in the
countryside. Until she died in December in 2005 at the age of 85.
My mother died a strong independent lady, who was always
extremely proud of her children.
None of us ever let her down, and she never let us forget that.
After having two children of my own, we were luckily enough to have
lived close to the beach. Where they spent a lot of time. Watching
them play would bring back memories from my own childhood.
One of the last memories I have with mum is spending the day on
the beach with her and my granddaughter.
It is now a tradition whenever I go home to visit the beach, where
I’m always reminded of the happy times, I have spent there with her.
She was a strong determined lady who loved her family deeply and I
was very proud to call her my mum.