大象传媒

Sheila and Tom live in Motherwell. They've been happily married for over 64-years. Alison is in her 30s and she's happily single, but she still wants to know how they've made their relationship work. Tom says it's because he does what he's told. Sheila says it's because he doesn't drink and he makes a good job of the garden. They reflect on almost 40-years living in the same house, and the belongings they've accrued, and how even now, when Tom goes on holiday alone, he still calls every night to check in with Sheila to tell her everything's alright.

Tom was a trained metallurgist, but used to work in personnel in Ravenscraig Steelworks. When the plant closed, he retrained as a chemistry teacher. He taught at Carluke High School for 9-years until he turned 65. He then stayed on to manage the team of invigilators who monitored the exams. and finally retired at 76. Sheila left school to work in a bank, before being moved to a cabling factory as banking was "not a job of national importance" and everyone of a certain age had to contribute towards the war effort. When she and Tom married, she left work to bring up her two sons (Alison's dad Robin and her uncle). Once the boys were old enough, Sheila invested her energies in serving her community and playing golf. She still plays 18-holes. Alison is one of two children and she runs her own charitable organisation called Vox Liminis, which uses music-making to assist reintegration of offenders into society.