Auntie Eunice

Memories from a time when people seemed to care. In the 1950's this old lady used to collect waste food and vegetable peelings from our bins to sell to the local pig farmer. Children being children my cousins and brothers used to make fun of her until my blind Uncle Jim intervened. He told us that the lady was his sister Eunice who had been thrown out of the family home as a child for being naughty. She was our Aunty!

After that on the day before she came we used to collect the waste food and peelings from our street and put it into paper bags. She no longer had to put her hands into the bins. She was grateful for help and would often put her hand in her pocket and bring out a small, grubby bag of sweets and hand us one each which we felt obliged to eat in front of her. Once she only had one toffee so she bit it in half for my brother and me.

Eventually we found out that she was no relation at all but Uncle Jim famous for his stories had made a point that we should care for everyone and we carried on bagging the waste. Mind you it was sometime before I forgave my grandad for throwing out his 'daughter'.