An Account of My Past Week in England

I intended to continue with the recording of childhood memories in a prompt and orderly fashion. However, if you will notice, it has been more than a week since my last entry. My excuse is that I have spent the last week in England.
I am sorry to say that I haven't been there physically, but I have been mentally and thoroughly immersed in World War II in England. It all started quite accidentally one evening.
I was tired of TV, so I searched Netflix for a good movie to watch instantly on my computer.
Netflix knows that I love English drama, so they recommended a movie titled "Housewife 49." I know, that title sounds dreadfully dull, but it had received very high ratings from previous viewers, so I thought, "Oh, well," and clicked on "Play."
I discovered that it was the film version of a true diary written by an English housewife during World War II. Nella Last was a quite ordinary wife and mother living in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire. Lancashire is an island part of England, and Barrow-in-Furness is a village where most of the men are employed in a seaside ship-building yard.
Nella has two grown sons who will eventually be drafted into military service. One spends the war time doing a desk job, and is stationed in Ireland. The other son will eventually be sent to the war front, and will be injured in battle. Nella's husband is not abusive, but is totally self-involved and anti-social. He believes that Nella should always stay home and take care of him.
This stifling environment had caused Nella to suffer a nervous breakdown in 1938. Her therapist suggested that keeping a diary might give Nella an outlet for her feelings.
At the same time, a governmental agency called "Mass Observation" has invited citizens to submit their written accounts of how the war is affecting their daily lives. In 1939, Nella begins submitting her diary entries to Mass Observation.
These writings document her day-by-day struggles with rationing, shortages, bombings, damage to their house, going without gasoline and auto transportation, destruction in their village, the death of village young in war, blackouts, all the horrors of living in a place where war is being waged.
At the same time that Nella is dealing with the hardships, she goes against her husband's wishes that she always remain at home. She becomes involved in the Womens Reserves, a wartime volunteer effort. She gives days to work at the Women's center making hospital supplies, at the Canteen serving food to soldiers, and starting a Red Cross Shop where donated goods are sold to finance parcels to be sent to English POWs. She finds that she loves this work and the chance to use her creativity. She makes many friends and appreciates the strong support provided by these friendships. Nella's personality blossoms.
The food shortages give Nella the courage to dig up her husband's prized landscaped lawn to create a war garden of vegetables. She also builds a hen house and begins keeping chickens.
Her husband doesn't like the yard, but he certainly appreciates all the food it provides. And Nella finds that she has a real ability to create delicious meals using shortened supplies.
I was so interested in this account of a time and place in history, that I immediately, that night, got on Amazon and ordered her published diary titled " Nella Last's War." After reading the book, I watched the movie again. I found the reading gave me a better understanding of the chronology of events in the movie.
After the reading and viewing, I have felt a most profound gratitude for the life I have been allowed to live. I know that I have been truly blessed to live in a place never destroyed by on -sight warfare. I know I've been blessed to never experience sending a husband, a child, or a grandchild into battle. I know that I have been blessed to have outlets for my creativity and a husband who appreciated those efforts outside the home as well as those at home.
Mass Observation has published other diaries submitted by other citizens. They have also published Nella Last's peace-time diary . I plan to check these out in the future. I think, though, that for now I'll try to stay in the good old USA for awhile.