I went to my Dad's to do his shopping yesterday, I sat on the other side of the train so I couldn't see the dead badger, and the day brightened up weather wise as it went on. We filled in Dad's census for him online and he was much less trouble than the rest of my family! There were a couple of questions on the census that set me thinking. One was the section about qualifications and I thought it was really written with today's young people in mind and was pretty irrelevant to a large proportion of the population. Most of the qualifications listed didn't exist when I was at that stage of my life and the "or equivalent" option was pretty irrelevant too. I left school at 16 with six O levels worked in a bank for two years, then became a student nurse, three years later qualifying as a State Registered Nurse as it was called in those days. On the census I jumped from O level to degree level with nothing in between.
My Dad's situation at a few weeks away from 90 is even more far removed. Despite getting a grammar school scholarship and having one of the most brilliant minds I have ever met in any person, he failed his school certificate as he was not good at maths and to pass the certificate in those days you had to pass every part of the exam. As a school leaver of 14 with no qualifications he signed up as a cadet officer in the Merchant Navy and then went on to do his national service at 19 in the Royal Air Force. He excelled so quickly he was promoted to officer cadet and became a pilot which was incredibly rare for anyone on national service. He had to take numerous exams to reach this level and yet according to his census he has no qualifications with just one small box to check for "other". Filling in the census with my Dad really made me realise how much the world has changed. My young life and definitely his, bear little resemblance to that of young people today. Here is a photo of my Dad as a pilot when he was 20.
One question on the census that really has made me count my blessings though was the health question. My family, even me who has been treated for cancer in the last four years, chose the very good health option and my Dad who as I said is a few weeks away from his 90th birthday chose good health saying "There's nothing wrong with me!" . We are very lucky.
I am at home with only dog walking to take me out today but have so many things to keep me occupied as always. It's just trying to get the balance of tedious activities with fun activities. Hopefully if I plan it right the fun ones will win out! I hope everyone has a lovely day what ever you are doing. xx
