My life- Margaret’s story

Family & beginnings

I come from England. I’m English. I don’t know where I was born. And then they came back, when I was a little girl. My father’s Paddy. My uncle, he had Parkinsons Disease. I have two sisters.. I’m the first, the oldest. I have no brothers.

Father died when I was in Cork. He was my proper father. They came back and lived in the house. After mum died, we sold the house. The place is sold. And I go back to it. I cry in it, it’s our house.

School

I went to a few schools, and the last one was a special school ‘cause I was mental handicap. I walked there every day. I used to look at books at school. I learned The Stations in school.

Helping at home

After school I stayed home altogether with my mum. It was a farm with cattle and sheep, I used to feed calves and milk the cows. It was easier. I helped my mum. I used to peel potatoes, carrots and turnips. I used to bring up the water. I’d go to the parties with her. It was good. I had tea, biscuits and cake and everything. I think that was lovely. Then mum said, “go back to school and learn the stations at school”. And I said, “no I’d rather stay at home. I do nothing at the school.” I didn’t learn nothing. I dunno why. I didn’t learn to read or write. I didn’t learn the books or nothing.

Mam had a heart attack

Yeah, I was at home at the time. My mother had cancer, she used to smoke. My mother got a heart attack. She was at home. Lying in bed and I went up and called her and there was no answer. She died in bed. It was a great shock. I ran to the neighbours and knocked at the door, at the window, and they opened the door and I told them. They had to ring for my married sister. The doctor had to come. And he told me to go to bed. I needed to go to bed. And in the morning she was dead.  Friends came down that day too. They used to go to mass. They used to come in and see if everything was all right. I opened the door and said, “Mummy is dead,” and they said, “is she”, and I said “she is”. That’s the way. My mum died in July. I think she is five or six years dead. My Uncle died of a heart attack, in January, and my Father died in October.

A new house…

The boss in Donegal, he said to my sister, “there’s a house here. Would Margaret have to come in to see it?” And he brought me in one morning to see it. And he said, “would Margaret like to live in it?” There were four people in the house. And that was all right. I loved it because I knew all the people around.

My day

I come up here every day. I can write my name. A girl called Chrissie comes in and she was teaching me how to do it. Teaching us how to do reading and writing. I knit scarves and look at TV and colour and do the computers. And that is all right. I can’t work the computer. I’d like to work the computer. I’ve talked to people and they said there’s a laptop here and they brought it down. I’d like to look at pictures, look at pictures on the computers.

I like looking at television. Coronation Street, Eastenders, I don’t see Housewives of the Year. I go to bed about half nine and it’d be on at about quarter to eleven. It’s too late. They say it’s too late. And I think it is too late.

I’m a diabetic, I can’t help it. I have to go back to the day clinic tomorrow to the dietician lady. I don’t know what’s the problem. I’m worried.

I go for walks, I like going for walks. I go to the post office anyway. Just to Rehabilitative Training- RT. It’s over there, just across the road. RT is open doors. There’s six or seven in it. It’s open doors and we go over there. We play bingo at St Catherine’s on a Monday from quarter past two to four o’clock. I won €45. Number 11 is my number. And then the day girl comes in, she does our feet. She came here last Tuesday about eleven o’clock. I think it’s lovely.

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