A really with-it teenager is the only way to describe my eldest daughter, Nicola. She was always very canny and bright as a button. I remember making her a pair of slacks (trousers), as they were called then, with very wide bottoms; and up the side seams I stitched hundreds of tiny bells – you could certainly hear her coming. She was very popular with both sexes and it wasn’t uncommon for her to go out on a date with one chap and come home with another. But I must stress she was never promiscuous. She eventually met and married an extremely nice man, and together they have both developed into great parents. Nicola has a very forceful personality, she can be kind and forgiving and thoughtful, but this is tempered by a very decisive approach to life.

Our eldest son, Martin, was a joy as a baby. He was always very happy and contented, as he grew he developed into a peaceful and quite reticent person, extremely loving and giving. He is generous (unbelievably so), and his partner is also an extremely charming and kind person. They are both very successful businessmen, but they have never lost the common touch.

Jane, my next baby was a girl. She was also a lovely baby. She arrived screaming and kicking, but with a lovely head of hair. I have a very strange story to tell of this stage in my life: I took the three children shopping, two toddlers and the baby in her pram. I got to the shops – the shop assistants and people that owned the stores were all very friendly in those days, and each customer was an individual. I had the two toddlers doing what toddlers generally do, so that after shopping I was just keen to get home, so off the three of us went. Back home, unpacking the shopping, I realised that something was missing: horror and panic, I remembered I had left the baby outside the shop in her pram. Hurry, hurry, the poor kids were rushed off their feet, but joy and relief when we arrived back there; she was still waiting, happy and gurgling in her pram. Thank God for all his goodness in making an unhappy episode have a happy ending.

Jane has developed into a self-reliant person. Two husbands and five children later she is a hard worker and a caring person, but she worries me as she smokes too much!

My next baby was also a girl (Sarah, very blonde and blue-eyed). She once again was a different little person to deal with. She had her own way of tackling everything and her own character, which was a very loving and sunny presentation. She very rarely lost her temper, but when she did she made her presence felt. But she was never a sulker and very quickly recovered her equanimity. She has grown into a very helpful person, always willing to do her share in any task, and has accomplished many things. She has a mischievous little lad who shows interest in all things.

When Sarah was still a very young baby I went to a meeting (Mother’s Club). They had a speaker that particular day, she came from the Adoption Society for Catholic Babies. She spoke to us all about adoption (it was much more straightforward in those days). I came home and discussed it with all the family, we all decided to make further enquiries. We had a very nice Welfare Officer come to see us and to vet us. She came two or three times, eventually bringing a few photos with her of baby boys (we had specified that we would like another son). We picked three, one whose name was Tommy, another whose name I can’t remember, and a little boy called Francis.

For one reason or another our choice was finally whittled down to Francis. It was arranged that we should go and see him at an orphanage in Cavendish, Reading. He was very shy and extremely attached to a certain nurse. We went to see him two or three times, then we were told we could take him home with us. Coming into a fairly large family, he fitted in very quickly and proved to be an ideal fifth child. He and our last daughter, Sarah, were born in the same year and people always express surprise as there are only months between them. Happily, they got on well. We renamed him Micheal Francis.

Our latest member to our family was slowly growing used to us, he had many little foibles we had to accept as part of him. The first surprising discovery happened when I took him shopping for the first time. He was about 16 months. People that I met (some I hadn’t seen for a while) saw I had the two babies in the pram, one at the top and one at the handle end. Sarah was as blonde as can be and Micheal was a very dark-haired baby. They were always admired, and people would say things like "I see one takes after you, and one takes after your husband".

Micheal was a very nervous child. For instance, he was terrified of kerbs; it would take all my powers of persuasion to help him to be able to step down a kerb and up the other side. He was also very nervous of the traffic. I guess he had not been taken out very much as the orphanage stood in its own grounds, which were extensive; so there was no need for him to be taken out where he would have come into contact with traffic.

He very soon became a real part of our family. He took after me, he was always on the religious side; and, as he grew up, it became more apparent. He has grown into a very fine person. He has the family quick temper but he also possesses a great capacity for helping people. He, like all our children, has proved to be a good parent: loving, kind and understanding. He is emigrating to Australia in a few weeks, he will leave a big hole in my heart. But I thank God for lending him to us for 40 years. I am a very lucky woman that my other children will all help to fill the gap. They will, no doubt, miss him, too.

And then I had another baby boy, David. I now had three boys and three girls: lucky, lucky me. When my last baby was born it was just as exciting as the first time. There is no other joy that can replace the first peep at a baby one has just given life to. It is silly to say that moment wipes out all the pain, but it does make it all seem to be worthwhile. This new baby was a complete character from birth. He always thought he knew his own mind and the way he wanted to do things.

Being the youngest in a large family must, at times, be extremely puzzling: everyone around you can do things that you would like to do but can’t. It must, at times, make one feel inadequate and consequently can cause feelings of resentment, embarrassment and discontent. It is a wonderful thing when a boy becomes a man, having dealt with all those feelings. David is now a man who has had to contend with heartbreak and a feeling of despair in some aspects of his life. But he has had the strength of character to come out very well from these experiences, and find happiness and contentment and acceptance. He is a very nice person. He is always supportive, especially now when I need all the support I can get.

I have also cared for quite a few foster children, some young and some teenagers. Each one brought with them various problems. I think our own children coped magnificently with the added temperaments and difficulties they were faced with daily. I, myself, found the added burden sometimes very stressful. Looking back I don’t know how I managed to cope; nine children was quite a usual count, and I didn’t have any domestic help so my days were very full to say the least.

I feel I must say something about my sons in law and daughters in law, also my grandchildren. The three sons I have gained are really an asset to us all, and all are wonderful; two are successful men. They have lived good and productive lives. My daughters-in-law are delightful people to know and very easy to love, and they give me great pleasure. Micheal’s wife, Roshini, has shown me a caring personality; I will miss her when she goes to Australia. Annie (David’s second partner), although I have not known her very long, has my very sincere thanks for all she has done for my son. I have never seen him so happy and fulfilled as he is these days. She has helped him to develop into a far happier and contented man ( a great improvement on his previous marriage).

I feel, as a grandmother, it would not be quite acceptable to comment on my grandchildren’s characters as I do not feel I am in a one-to-one situation. I can only say as they appear to me. I have twelve grandchildren and one great grandson. They have (according to their age) always given us real affection and they are all being very helpful and supportive at the present time. They are very caring, which is unusual these days, and very helpful. As I say, I can only speak from my own experience. Some I know more intimately than others, but they all seem nice children and young people to me.