Strong minded & Independent?

I was in the company of 3 amazing ladies the other day. I sat, listened & watched as they talked. My Great Aunt we think is about 95 (she will never admit how old she acctually is.) My aunts, one is 81 the other fast approaching 80.

All three look amazing, if I look half as good as they do I'll be a very happy woman. They are all strong minded, independent women, all of them have worked & supported their husbands while brining up a family, my 2 aunts still do, one of my uncles still gets up & goes to work most mornings, the other finds life alittle more difficult so she cares for him, although I think he can cope better than my aunt gives him credit for.

My aunts where brought up by another strong minded, independent woman. She refused to have them sent away during the war, she needed to know they where safe & no one was going to seperate them from her even Hilter.

While my grandfather was doing his bit for the war effort, my grandmother had to work, money was very tight & every penny counted. She came from a family of enterpeners, if they thought a scheme could make money they would give it a go. By trade she was a taylor & decided that she would start up her own bussiness.

My aunt talks of how she can remember her sitting in the shop crossed legs working all hours. She continued to work after the war as money worries never went away. My dad arrived towards the end of the war, something of a shock to my grandfather who wasn't sure how that happened! With the extra mouth to feed & my older aunt being clever enough to go grammer school she had to continue working.

Well into her 80's she continued to take in work & even when she became too unwell to live independently she continued to sew.

I was brought up by one of the most stubbon women I know. We argue like cat & dog but still stay friends afterwards. It took me a while to figure out that we fight so much & figured out its because we are the same person. Mum will often end one of our arguments with the phrase 'Your so bloody stubbon, I don't know who you get it from.'

From an early age if I needed anything I had to get it myself, with two younger brothers needing more of mums attention than me I had to be independent. One of my ealiest memories of my little brother is of my mum sitting up with him in her arms over night while he was ill.

I don't know of anyone more fustrating, stubbon & hard work as mum. She drives me nuts. She is also kind, loving & loyal & recently found out highly protective of her children. Somone recently upset me, after repeating the story to her she made me promise to tell me if he did it again & that if he did she would go & find him & 'have a word with him' Believe me you would want to be on the receving of that talking too!

I started off talking about strong minded, independent women, I finished off talking about a strong minded, fustrating independent woman. All the women I've talked apart are my history, part of everyone of them make me who I am today, so am I strong minded & independent.... I bloody hope so!