大象传媒

In 1940 my parents, Leonard and Mary Payne, were living in Banbury (Oxon), where my father was working as a storekeeper. As they considered to be living in a 鈥榮afe鈥� area, they were asked to take in an evacuee, who was Grace (surname then Grogan) a teenager. Her family were from the East End of London and they wanted their only daughter to move to a safer area. My parents became very fond of Grace, and she them, and when her parents visited her from London they were very happy to see how their daughter was being looked after so well. She remained with my parents for some years; the two families became very good friends. During 1943 I was born, and Grace helped my mother to look after me (she still recalls, so I have recently discovered, pushing me around in my pram). Eventually Grace did return to her London home, now in Essex, and when in 1946 at the age 19, she married Joe Reeder. I at age 3 was one of her bridesmaids. (I am told I loved sitting on a bed and being dressed in a lovely peach silk dress and white shoes). As pretty clothes were very difficult to come by then they must have seemed magical to me, but Grace鈥檚 mother was once a court dressmaker and she had made all the beautiful wedding clothes).

Well in the coming years my parents kept in touch by letter, the occasional telephone call and meeting. They were very busy years for both families. Grace and Joe had four children (one son died as a child), when at age 23, I was to be married, I had a great wish to have their teenage daughter Lesley as one of my four bridesmaids, to keep the 鈥渓ink鈥� going and September 24th 1966 was a very happy wedding day.

Over the years after 1966, as my parents became older and frailer, and my life bringing up a family became busier, correspondence with each other was not as frequent. Then when my mother died during 1982, the link seemed to be lost, as although I write annually I received no reply. (I now know there were several house moves, deaths etc in the Grogan and Reeder family).

Then as 2006 began to approach and my Ruby Wedding drew near, Robert and I so felt it would be good to have all my four Bridesmaids together. The other three being my sister, cousin and old school friend, all of who I am in regular touch with. I put adverts in papers in Essex, and had my story told in the Radio Essex 鈥淲here Are You Now鈥� programme, but sadly with no response. Anyway, eventually I enlisted the help of a lady who has a column in the Daily Mail who will research for lost/missing loved ones. I was asked to provide as many family details as I could and left the matter in her hands. I began to think all the family had emigrated!! So, imagine my delight, when about four months later, one Saturday, the telephone rang and the lady told me she had found Lesley Reeder (now Barrett), and she was thrilled and would be telephoning me! And in fact within two hours we were speaking to each other after 39 years, and what was quite amazing she was living near Gloucester under an hours drive from where I live. Of course I was very anxious to hear about Lesley鈥檚 life over all those years, but most importantly to me, about her parents Grace and Joe Reeder. I had to tread warily, but amazingly they are both still reasonably fit, and celebrate their Diamond wedding next year.

Well in May 2005, a dream came true when Grace and Joe Reeder who I was bridesmaid to 59 years ago, and Lesley Barrett (nee Reeder) who was one of my bridesmaids 39 years ago, visited me and my family. We never stopped talking, and laughing, and crying at times. I learnt quite a lot about my own family I didn鈥檛 know, and of those far off WW2 years. Of course we will now keep in touch and a story that began during WW2, when Grace was my parent鈥檚 evacuee, is still continuing over 60 years later.

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