Once upon a time, and it was a hundred years ago in Ireland. For truly long ago, I would have to ask the genealogist in the family, "Hazel by the Shannon"  But, a hundred years ago, my Grandad was horrified by the life you or I would consider "quaint" and he ran away to start "Grandad's military career"  He survived this, grew up, emigrated, and married. "Granny I hardly knew you"  is about his wife. They were my Mum's parents.

Mum is the star of most of my childhood memories. She had a flamboyant personality and a life much more pedestrian than she'd intended. All her life, she felt she could have been more than a stereotypical suburbanite housewife, but there she was - stuck with four unwanted children, dragging her back, holding her down. When I hear Brando's "I could been a contender" speech, that brings her to mind. She hated cooking, but attempted a "recipe for disaster ~~ Squash"  and a "recipe for disaster~~fish slurry"  She was forced into domesticity by the traditional 1970s demands. "a green passport, with a harp on it"  describes parenting techniques under pressure. "the good sport"  does so, too, but Brian grew up, and "recipe for disaster ~~ salmon mousse" , a little later, shows a 1970s Dublin family coming together in a beautiful party for him, with suitable food. "Mum: the films, the telly, the dance"  is the only piece with her in her proper place, centre stage, billed in the headline, but she is the most important person in almost all the stories.

"recipe for disaster~~berries"  is about food again, and my sister Jill is in this. It is followed by "Changeling Child"  in which my big sister Jill became a Mum herself, and the generations turned another cycle. Jill was ten years older than I, more like a much admired aunt than a sister. There were also two brothers. Both David and Brian left home early in life.

The other stories happened after I left for England and freedom. "recipe for disaster ~~in a bedsit"  is a story about my first flatmate before he met me. He told this frequently at dinner parties. "Visiting the V&A with Paul - & Eleanor"  is about going to a museum with a friend, as is "To the museum with Neil - agus gach eile" . "Music. Sweet music. Music in my ear."  [18+] is about going to a gig with a bunch of friends. "Outsourcing"  [18+] is about the horrors of work. Meanwhile, my family remained in Ireland and one of them showed "a morbid interest in riots"  [E]




All of these items are things that happened. Afterwards, the stories were told, over and over, and now, years later, here I am typing them out. The facts and the feelings in the stories may have been "improved" out of all recognition, to make them hold the attention of listeners. By this time, the stories are what I recall, not the raw memories.

This is biography as myth. My family have shape shifted into monsters and heros. They were only people, but how gripping a monologue does that make?