Author: Chatter

When you think of the word “successful,” who’s the first person that comes to mind and why?

It has to be my husband.

He left school at 17 and came up to Belfast to be with me as my family didn’t approve of our romance.

He started studying while working for the Department of Agriculture as a laboratory assistant, got a first class degree in Biological Sciences, followed by a PhD and eventually became a world renowned Professor collaborating with colleagues in Canada and the USA to develop a vaccine to combat Global Swine Disease.

I think that’s what you would call successful.

What principles define how you live?

I think we’re all born with innate qualities of what is right and what is wrong. However there are some who have tendencies to be evil and unfortunately society and peer pressure brings out those tendencies.

Although I had 12 years of listening to Catholic doctrine it didn’t define who I am and in fact I disregarded most of it’s teachings and led my life in a way that was governed by the world around me.

I tried to be kind where I saw hate. I obeyed the law of the land. I believed in live and let live. What another person believes or what way they live their lives is none of my business unless it is a threat to my family or to others.

I believe in my body, my choice. Who am I to put myself in someone else’s shoes and tell them what is right for them?

Most people I know live by these principles. We just want to get through this short life living in peace and helping society to prosper.

It’s so pitiful that today’s leaders like Trump and Netanyahu and other dictators do not live by any principles other than to gain power and wealth and as a result put the future of the world in jeopardy.

When was the first time you really felt like a grown up (if ever)?

When I was 13 and discovered where babies came from!!

What’s something you would attempt if you were guaranteed not to fail.

If I was guaranteed not to fail there would be no reason to do it. Surely it’s the challenge, not knowing whether you are going to succeed or fail.

If you knew you weren’t going to fail you wouldn’t put your heart and soul into it, so little satisfaction when you succeeded.

What would you do if you lost all your possessions?

I can’t imagine what I would do but as long as I still had my family I wouldn’t really care.

Processions mean nothing without a family round you.

At my age it would be difficult to start over. However 12000 photos on the iCloud, a home is where the heart and processions are just that. Mostly things that will be dumped in a skip when we pass on.

Hoping it never comes to that but also hoping I’d be strong enough to survive if it did.

Tell us about a time when you felt out of place.

When I was just 16 I left home to come up to Belfast to work in the Civil Service.

Things weren’t going well at home due to my relationship with my now husband.

Obviously at 16 I was naïve and thought things would be different in the big city.

On my first morning presenting myself for work I was full of enthusiasm. I thought being recruited at Clerical officer level would be a guarantee to a career path.

Many of the females in the office were employed as Clerical Assistants and they were not happy to see someone of my age coming in a grade higher.

When I asked questions they were evasive or gave me incorrect information and made my life quite miserable.

I also was told that the Junior Staff officer in my section prided herself on having an all Protestant staff and here was a Catholic interloper.

It was a two pronged attack.

There was a staff member who became my friend and he helped me get me though those rough days, probably without even knowing it and we still are in communication 60 years letter.

Not a nice way to start of a career.

What details of your life could you pay more attention to?

I think I could try to be less in control.

I worry about everyone in my family. I’m constantly checking they are ok.

When they go abroad if I don’t hear anything for 24 hours I panic and my imagination runs riot.

I’m always offering advice even though I would have resented it if I was younger. But it comes from a good place and I know when I’m gone they’ll cope quite well without being there.

So I need to let them get on with it and realise I can’t be in control of everything and let them get on with their lives.

I probably sound like a control freak but I’m really not, I do it all in a subtle way, I think 🤔

Now where did Lauren say she’d be today? …

Is Paul flying ….

Stop it 😅

What’s the trait you value most about yourself?

It’s hard to say nice things about yourself but looking at myself objectively ( if that’s possible) I think it has to be kindness.

I find it hard to say no to requests to help out, even when it means inconveniencing myself.

I asked my husband what he considered my best trait and guess what he said ‘kindness.’

We have nothing to lose by being kind, goodness knows, there’s not much of it about these days.

 

Kindness is an act of love care, affection, and empathy, without any reason.

So let’s hope we can all aspire to be more kind. It feels good to see other people being happy as a result of something you’ve done.

List three jobs you’d consider pursuing if money didn’t matter.

I’m presuming that where ‘money doesn’t matter ’ refers to a job with a salary or wage that doesn’t reflect the importance of the job.

I’m way too old to contemplate working again. That’s way behind me but one of the jobs where money is not the incentive must be nursing. Those that follow a nursing or medical career are certainly not doing it for the money, so they are doing it for the love of looking after those needing care.

I have to be truthful and add that I’m not sure I would be prepared to do a job that didn’t pay what my job was worth.

Money matters to us all. We can’t live without some income unless we want to live on the streets so no I can’t come up with three jobs I would want to do where there was no recompense.

Every job has its ups and downs and the only thing keeping people working is the money that drops into their account at the end of the month.

Maybe if I came from a rich family I would think differently. But I don’t!

What aspects of your cultural heritage are you most proud of or interested in?

Living in Northern Ireland I am a citizen of both the United Kingdom and Ireland.

I actually like to see myself as Northern Irish having a foot in both camps.

My ancestry also shows up some Scottish and some Sardinian dna 🧬. The Sardinian was quite a surprise.

I must confess to be more influenced by British culture such as TV programmes, way of life etc but I also enjoy a lot of Irish culture, the music, the poetry and the famous writers who hailed from Ireland.

Before partition Gaelic was spoken by a large section of the population and many place names in and around NI reflect the language.

The town-land where I live is called. Ballycloghan, which comes from the Irish, ‘Baile Clocháin’ meaning “townland of the ford/row of stepping stones” I speak a little Irish and it is coming back to the area with many schools teaching Irish as their first language.

This doesn’t go down well with many of the Unionist ( British) population who believe that is a political gesture that is trying to weaken the union with the UK. All very complicated.

Same with the GAA.

The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is Ireland’s largest sporting organisation. It is celebrated as one of the great amateur sporting associations in the world.

It is part of the Irish consciousness and plays an influential role in Irish society that extends far beyond the basic aim of promoting Gaelic games. This is Irish culture and is rejected by many of those with a British affinity.

Everyone has heard of St.Patrick and all over the world St.Patrick’s Day is celebrated. Nowadays more for the drinking and parades than the religious aspect.

It should be possible to celebrate the diversity of both cultures as long as there is harmony but unfortunately we haven’t quite reached that stage in NI and I don’t expect it will happen in my lifetime, although things are changing slowly.