ON MY CHILDHOOD, PARTICULARLY PARTS LESSER KNOWN

People don’t know this about me but I grew up in a large Victorian house on the outskirts of Hull. My mother was very cruel and only ever allowed us to light the fire once a week at Friday teatime. We ate porridge for every meal, with no salt. At school, the other children laughed at me because my neck was dirty and greasy. The money saving skills this has afforded me in later life speaks volumes. My gas bill is £1 a month and there are not many people who can say that in our current climate. I’m glad for my childhood because I wouldn’t be the person I am today without it.
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People don’t know this about me but my father was partly reared by sheep on his father’s (my grandfather’s) farm. He would sit out in the fields, covered in wool spun of the very same flock, and they would nuzzle him. This is the only route by which he could gain physical affection. They treated him as one of their own. I like to think its effect on me is the opposite of ‘intergenerational trauma’, I have ‘intergenerational therapy’ through my innate bond with land and beast. I believe that’s why I like the countryside so much. I’m glad for my father’s childhood because I wouldn’t be the person I am today without it.