Today we had the most amazing experience..... let me take you back to the beginning. When Mom was a young, twenty-year old, she and her cousin, Rosita were ready to take on the world. These two beautiful women hopped on a boat and headed to London to make a little money as nannies and see the world along the way. Such an exciting time! Mom's job was in a suburb north of London, called Hendon, working for a Jewish family who owned a chocolate shop. Hopefully I get this story right. A couple of months after arriving in England, Mom felt prompted to go back home to Sweden. You see, her mother had been ill for many years, and, unbeknownst to Mom, had taken a turn for the worse. But our sweet mother, knew something was wrong. Amazingly, she left behind this fantastic job, and fun journey she was on with her cousin, and headed back to Sweden. (by the way, she was right! Her mother was very ill and in the hospital with no one to help).
So, after 50 years, she wanted to try and find the house where she had lived and worked as a nanny. All we had was the street and village name. So on Saturday morning, we hopped on the train in Didcot, then the Tube at Paddington, (the black line north), to Hendon.
It was such an adventure. We easily found the street, so we started to wander up and down, hoping Mom would remember which house. No luck, they had all changed just enough and she couldn't remember. We started to leave, happy with what we had found, but I couldn't let it go. These two guys, in their late thirties, or early forties, happened to come outside just then. I decided to ask them if they knew the family name. Jackpot!! Of course they knew the name because the lady of the house had been their teacher at school and had lived in the house until she died. Amazingly, they had also lived on that same street and still did. They happily showed us the exact house. It was such a fantastic experience. And Mom cried.
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| The house in Hendon where Mom was a Nanny |
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