The Cracked Cup: Part 2 The Married Years and Part 3 The Widow Years - Tapa blanda

Part 2; of Violet Joan Patterson Gregg's life started when she married and changed her surname to Thomson. There was an air of Romeo and Juliet to the marriage. She had grown up as part of a quite well off family and left this for the man she loved. They lived with their marriage vows, for Richer or Poorer, in Sickness and Health until Death do us part. Part 3; continues after Iain's death. Violet's sons lived with their families far away from Glasgow and she felt very alone. Initially she had to overcome financial problems, which paled in significance as other challenges from her family threatened her world. She built new anchors in her life around her sister and her family. Travel to those distant sons gave her a chance to visit the South of England and Canada. A long life brought the natural attrition of death to friends and relatives, which caused heartache for Violet.

Having lived for sixty two of my mother's ninety seven years has given me the knowledge of the majority of her life and the world events of that time. She spoke often of her years before marrying with affection, and I can selfishly say that it was a very interesting experience for me to research that period. But that was covered in Part 1 of this memoir. In parts 2 and 3 equally it has been a challenge to walk in her shoes through the problems and fulfillment that life presented to her during the time I shared with her. I have written this book at an age that equals when she was widowed. My maturity has enabled me to bring an understanding perspective to the events in her life to that time. The latter section of her years as a widow I witnessed from a distance in Canada. After both my brother's and my mother's sister's deaths I assumed an even more important roll to my mother. We did spend time talking about her life and these conversations and letters she sent have been the source of the last section of her story.