Ticket 1

Mother

I was the eldest of three children brought up in a happy working-class home.

My mother was insistent that we had a good education and there was always
money for family holidays, dancing lessons and trips to Guides camp.
She thought that we should get ourselves office jobs. I would rather
have followed an artistic career, enjoying dressmaking and painting as I did,
but for a teenager in the late 60s attending a secondary modern school, there
were not the opportunities that there are today. Besides, no one defied
Mother.
I had met my future husband, Michael, when I was 20 and we had a
normal courtship, and got engaged when I was 21.
There was no doubt that when we married it would be in a church
with many cousins as bridesmaids. It was expected that we would own our
own home, or at least would be mortgaged for 25 years. Renting was never
an option. Renting a home back then meant living on a council estate –
definitely not an option. Something else that Mum insisted on was that we
kept our money separate “just in case anything happened”, especially
because my father was “not good with money”.
I never thought to question my mother; I would never have disagreed
with her. Those were the days when parents were respected and youngsters
knew their place.
Answer the following questions:

1)What career would the author prefer?

2)When did she meet her future husband?
3) Who was at their wedding?
4)What did the author’s mother insist on?

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