大象传媒

Pat Morley's unusual question got an unexpected answer ...

Pat and her brother used to copy their mother's obsession of 'counting back' from when a baby was born to see whether the newly blessed couple had had to have a speedy journey up the ailse. Pat's brother worked out that with his birthday in September he must've been a Christmas present. After a bit of quick finger work, Pat worked out that she must have been conceived in the August of 1940. It's a curious question to ask of a parent, but Pat asked it anyway, "What was going on when I was conceived?" Her mother's answer was unexpected, and unfolded a tragic stroy:

"In the August of 1940, and my parents and three brothers were having a picnic by the river at North Muscombe. A bus party of around 50 people from Bolsover were also there, enjoying a day out. About a dozen of the Bolsover party went off in a little boat, rowed up the river, singing, and rowed back again. As the party came in to tie up by a couple of barges, they all got up and moved to one side of the boat at the same time - and of course, it turned over. Lots of people fell in the water - four men and one seven year-old-boy were drowned. My father called for help, whilst someone else dived in. My father wanted to go in, but my mother restrained him saying, "No Harry you can't - you can't swim!" Even though the'd been married for years, she hadn't realised that he could swim. My mum always deferred to my father, but she was the powerful one in the family... Although my father really couldn't have done much about it, he was still so distressed when they got home that the only thing my mother could think of to console him was to ... do it! Not something that happened much, I think. And I was the result."

Many lives were affected by the incident. Three of the men were brothers, two of whom were probably twins, and the seven year old boy was the son of one of the three. Pat believes the family's name was Kemp. It's an odd moment of realisation to feel that your own existence is a direct result of others losing their lives, "I'm terribly sorry for the people who lost loved ones," says Pat,"but I've had a nice life, and I'm grateful that I'm here...If the tragedy hadn't happened, I wouldn't be here, nor my daughter nor granddaughter.."

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