Last night I sat chatting with my grandma, and I randomly asked what it was like growing up in England during World War II. I'm not really sure why I asked...I guess because I did a lot of study on World War II last year in Japan and Germany, and I realized that there aren't that many eyewitness accounts left.
Anyway, I thought her answer was super interesting, so I'm blogging it here because I don't want to forget it. If I ever teach history again, or if some future generation wants to hear this story, I don't have to try to remember back to this week and figure out what exactly she said. I'm going to do my best to replicate the story, so here goes:
"I was three when the war started and nine when the war ended. You might think it was an unhappy childhood, but it really wasn't. You'd be amazed how much abnormal things can become completely normal over time. Almost every night we would gather up our pillows and blankets, and amid the sounds of sirens we would walk across the yard and go into the bomb shelter behind our house. I had a Mickey Mouse gas mask that I always brought with me. Then we would climb into our little bunks in the bomb shelter and sleep there until morning. Our area got bombed a lot because we lived near a large port, and Hitler didn't want resources to be imported or exported from England for obvious reasons. We didn't get any food from overseas. I didn't see a banana or a tangerine until after the war was over. You could only eat the things you grew yourself...every family had a victory garden. My dad knew a local doctor, so we got some treats like butter. We were happy. We had what we needed, you know? But I will never forget the night the war ended. I couldn't believe it: we had the biggest bonfire, and it was OUTSIDE AT NIGHT. That was so crazy because we were never allowed to have any lights on at night. Not even a flashlight or a candle. We didn't want the bomb planes to find us, you know? So every night was completely black for years and years, and suddenly we had this huge bonfire. It was the craziest thing. The entire neighborhood came to the bonfire; everyone was laughing and dancing. Even the neighbors who didn't like each other or used to gossip about each other didn't care about anything except celebrating. My parents said my siblings and I could stay up all night long if we wanted. We said we definitely would! Of course, we didn't actually do that because we were kids and kids get too tired, but I wanted to for sure. The next day there was a huge block party because everyone wanted to continue celebrating, so we had a big potluck and spent all day outside with our neighbors again. Everyone was so happy - you wouldn't believe all the joy and happiness."
I guess war stories are always so sad that it was nice to hear one that was pretty happy. I wish I could have been there on the night of that bonfire. I wish they all had smartphones back then and Nana could show me the YouTube videos of that night, I guess all I can do to get information about her life is to spend a lot more time asking and listening. I'm lucky that my grandma is so healthy that I still have the chance to do this! If you have living grandparents, don't miss these opportunities. Think of all of the stories that could be lost if you don't take the time to ask.
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