75 Years Later

Weaving our past into our future

By all means this article is not meant to disregard these troubled times, which are many, but I thought maybe I would share a personal story of two very strong family members that have gone through really tough experiences and today, though still troubled and scared, are still as strong-willed as ever. 

It’s 1945, my Aunty Pepi is the 12 year old cutie sitting on the chair.  She is in a refugee Camp called Castle Gore in Ballymena (Northern Ireland).

By now all of Gibraltar’s women, children and the elderly have been away from their homeland for nearly 5 years.  They have been evacuated to Casablanca, then back to Gibraltar, and from there they have once again been sent to Madeira, and some to Jamaica.   My family was sent to London, then to Belfast and then to Ballymena.

My aunt’s memory is truly remarkable. “I remember,” she says, “Mr Davis, the manager of the hotel white land college where we were staying in London, saying, – ‘I want everybody to be very quiet.. We are going out of here, but I don’t want anyone to speak or shout.  Please stay quiet as we have been bombarded with incendiary bombs and the hotel is on fire’ –. He led us through an alleyway where we ended in the midst of other people’s homes. We saw these homes had their doors open, and women were calling out, “I have room for 2,” “I have room for 3”, “four over here”..and so on. This was not to stay in these homes, but to give us a cup of tea, biscuits, a slice of cake, until the coaches arrived and took us to a sort of college/institute to stay for a short while until we were sent to different hotels.

“Ours was called the Kensington palace mansion and nicknamed the white hotel, because it was  painted white. It was just beside Hyde Park, and this time our bathroom was inside!” 

“I remember my school, and the songs we sang as if it were yesterday, but I also remember the sirens, the flying bombs and how the wheezing sound would come to a halt! How we would stop and hold our breath because we didn’t know where these bombs would fall, until one of these bombs did fall on our hotel”.

“On this day we left for northern Ireland. ‘Oh Ana,’ ”she explains, “these were wonderful people, so many volunteers, they helped us so much, they were so nice to us.  I remember how much they cared for us. My two years in Ireland were the happiest, first of all because our area wasn’t bombed, and I could go to school which I loved so much. I have always done very well academically and was hoping to continue my studies, but unfortunately upon my return to Gibraltar my mother placed me in work as a seamstress. I was only 12, but I can’t blame her.  Life was hard here in Gibraltar and they were rough times so I had to work. I started working (I’m self taught as the majority of us), and then I met my future husband and that my dear is  another story…”.

Today my Aunt Pepi is as strong and joyful as ever. She is a wonderful human being to be around, full of faith and of “this will pass’’ and a thousands of “don’t you worry” – I adore her company. Being with her is like watching a “running movie from the past’’ magnificently detailed.  How she remembers each and every single moment is beyond me. “What makes you so strong still today?” I ask. “Well, just stop and see how many terrible things are happening in the world and you’ll see, when compared to others, your problem is not that bad..in fact we are great ;-)” she responded.

Now, my Friends, please look back at the picture. The baby on my Aunty Pepi’s lap is my Dad, Mario, who was born there in Ballymena. Today at the age of 75, he is fighting quite an aggressive lymphoma which through the grace of God, Grit & Mum’s powerful home Cooking, we strongly believe he will beat the living daylight out of it. Nothing breaks this man! 

Through this, he has been such an example of never giving up!, but as he says it’s the love he has towards us that has given him the strength to go through. When we mention this Pandemic, he shouts, “WEAR THE MASK!”

Today we are going through very challenging times, financially, emotionally, and some of us are even scared to leave our homes.

We all have stories of loved ones that have overcome hardships. Stories that give hope, encouragement, and loved ones who haven’t been broken by the tides of change or life’s challenges.  However,  perhaps it is true,  it’s too early to talk about those who have overcome this pandemic we are in the midst of, but if we share stories from our past maybe it can inspire us to be strong and help us through these trying times.

I would love to hear your stories. 

Please share, so we can show everybody that we just need to embrace change and move forward. Yes, social distancing and masks are still under dispute! You know what I say, “Let’s own this situation!” Sometimes accepting is not being weak, it’s being smart, and we will come out of this stronger than before. 

Josephine “Pepi” Bula and Mario Serra, Cousins, 75 years later