Mrs. Hawkes never had a very deep and bonded relationship with her mother, and her sisters weren’t close to her either. She didn't feel comfortable at the time but in a few months she was very much close to her eldest sister, Joanne. She considered Joanne the most matured and the most respected as she had given up her education to support her mother. Her mother worked in the evenings as a cleaner at the local Town Hall, while Joanne looked after her grandmother, Lynette, Kerry and Mrs. Hawkes.
The next few years of her life where greatly devoted to her grandmother and Joanne had become her mother figure. Mrs. Hawkes's actual mother was working day and night to earn money on which the family could survive on. She clearly remembers her mother becoming weak and weaker day by day and she also remembers asking her elder sister, Joanne, what was happening to her. She was only ten at the time:
"What's wrong with Mummy and why doesn't she come home in the mornings?" She asked innocently.
"I don't think she will ever come home in a couple of weeks," Joanne replied with understanding of what might happen to her.
Mrs. Hawkes didn't understand at the time the very words of her sister, but in a couple of weeks her mother never did return home; she had died. Her grandmother died six months later because of depression and old age. Joanne joined up her mother's post at the Town Hall and Lynette, the second eldest, had taken up Joanne's job of looking after the two younger ones. Every single day was the same for Mrs. Hawkes, until the age of nineteen.
She met her spouse at the local market. He sold ripe and fresh vegetables, under his father's business. It was through this daily routine that John proposed to her and where the major problems had started. All the sisters, including Joanne, objected from this proposal. Days and nights were spent arguing about this marriage and Joanne had clearly announced that she was going to marry the sisters off in the order they were born in. Mrs. Hawkes had agreed as well but her neither Lynette nor Kerry wanted to get married. These arguments had forced her to leave the small cottage and stand up on her own feet.
Mrs. Hawkes, who had been brought up by her sisters, left them for her spouse. She still regrets it and she's always in search of where they may be. She's always telling me about how much my parents love and care for me and that they are probably right and I'm in the wrong:
"What's the matter?" She would ask in concern, if she sees me walking to the bus stop in a mood, "Argued with anyone, again?"
"I don't care about anyone so why do they stop me from doing things that I want to do?!"
"So it's mum or dad, isn't it? Tell me the whole matter and I'm sure I'll work out who's right and who's wrong."
So I would tell her that mum and dad are stopping me from doing so and so and that they let my brother do any thing he wants to do.
"You're clearly in the wrong," she would reply positively and calmly, "and you know that. You're brother is a year older than you he is matured and he can take care of himself. Staying out till 8pm is certainly wrong for girls like you. You don't know what men go around doing out there. Oh, did you watch "Crime Watch" last night? I think you're parents are right not letting you go out the house. Oh, and on the news they were saying that a couple of women got raped-"
"- But it doesn't get dark until nine in most evenings."
" And you know those women? They're terrified of leaving the house. I don't know why you are aloud to walk to the bus stop. I think you should get a taxi or something. Oh no! Don't take a taxi! You don't know what some of them are like. In "Crime Watch" they were saying that a taxi driver raped a passenger in broad day light and they were also saying that-"
" -I'm sorry I've got to go otherwise I'm going to miss the bus."
" Take care. Don't talk to any one that you don't know and certainly put that phone away. On "Crime Watch" a Girl got shot in the head for her phone-"
I know that she's still shouting behind at me about all the incidents that she heard on "Crime Watch" or the latest on the news. Mrs Hawkes is always talking about safety and how one should remain alert about everything around them. She actually told us not to come around after 6pm because she won't open the door or even gat up to look at who that person on the door is.
Lately, she has become very scared of opening the door in the morning. A disguised person knocked on her door at around 8pm and said that he wanted to search her house as she has given a room to a tenant. Mrs. Hawkes refused to let him in as the Town Hall hadn't told her about the incident. She told that man that man she was going to ring the Town hall and find out and he man ran away. After this incident she's had two cameras put up, in the front and back gardens, three flood lights and a burglar alarm. She's waiting for her next pension so that she can have cameras put around the whole house. It's quite a spectacular view form my bedroom window to see three flood lights going off at the same time on the movement of a tree or even if the washing line sways an inch!
After her marriage with her Mr. Hawkes, the wedded couple moved down to the town of Luton and settled in a rather huge house for two people. She was around about twenty at the time when war broke out. Her husband was forced to leave his new partner and go off fighting. Mrs. Hawkes knew that there was a highly unlikely chance of ever seeing him again, but he had promised that once he came back, they
would go and spend there honeymoon in Scotland. But the saddest that has always remained is that he never did come back and the honeymoon has remained as a fantasy which will never be fulfilled. Only two months in to her marriage, Mrs. Hawkes had become a widow.
She tried very hard to get in to contact with her sisters, but all of them refused to speak to her. Luton was a totally new area and she knew no one that would help her get a job. The next five years were certainly a fight for survival for her and she only lived on rations. There was no financial support until the war came to an end. All her sisters had gone helping the soldiers at war and Joanne and Lynette died in service. Kerry however had survived but nobody knew where she had gone or whether she was alive or not.
The war ended and the remaining soldiers came home, but Mr. Hawkes was not in the group of survivors. Mrs. Hawkes had started work in the local supermarket. She had enough education and numerical skills to qualify as a cashier. This new supermarket was the craze of the town and was called, "Hensons". She clearly remembers customers queuing up to get a taste for what's in store and it was always packed right down to its closing hours:
"I had never seen so many people with trolleys filled to the rim and it was even more popular than the market. One thing I hated was the uniform! They were like big, brown bed sheets and didn't fit any one of us!"
Financially, Mrs. Hawkes was managing flawlessly with a bit of money to spare. With the extra money, she bought a 14" television and the news spread very quickly. Every night, neighbours and friends would come and watch a film, which was on every evening. Her much forgotten huge house was packed with people crowding around a small box. She would organise some drinks and everybody loved it:
"It was like a theatre in here. Some people couldn't even see the screen but were startled just by the sound!"
Mrs. Hawkes had worked in the same supermarket all her life and left it when it closed down. Since then, she has lived a much gentle and serene life, most of which is committed to a garden. Her garden is exceptionally beautiful and stands out from the dull, dismal gardens surrounding hers. The time and effort put into planting rare plants and a huge conifer tree is merely done to please herself and the green turf surrounding it.
I can clearly remember the occasion where she was struggling to trim her turf with the oldest lawn mower in the world. She's got a gigantic garden and she wasn't going to be successful in using an ancient machine. It didn't run off electricity, but an enormous motor. My mother decided to join her in clipping our own garden down. My mother, having the finest and hi-tech lawn mower in the world, trimmed our garden down in a matter of minutes, while Mrs, Hawkes, being round about eighty, was struggling to get hers started. So, my mother decided to go and do hers as well.
"Be careful around the tree, you know John planted that. Oh! You missed my crimson chrysanthemums by an inch. You are certainly not careful with that thing, are you? Watch the dahlias! There sixty pence for a bulb."
My mother doesn't like being told what to do, but didn't say anything to the instructions Mrs. Hawkes was shouting out at here.
" You know that rose bush, John planted it. He loves roses; he called me his rose. Be careful! You nearly had a rose swallowed in that machine off yours!"
Watching from my garden, I understood that Mrs. Hawkes, being cheerful as she always is, was trying to make a sheer effort of having a conversation. My mother, on the other hand, doesn't like being disturbed while at work, so she doesn't even attempt to respond.
Suddenly, my mother lets out a huge scream.
"What happened? Is that a dahlia I can see! Good heavens! How could you kill that poor flower! I told you they were expensive!"
My mother on the other hand was screaming about the blade of her expensive lawn mower:
"My blade has moved out of its position. Do you know how much this will cost me? Certainly more than sixty pence!"
I quickly ran over to the garden where havoc was created while my mother screamed about her blade and Mrs. Hawkes about her dahlia. I then realized that there was a dead frog lying there which my mother had scythed, which made the lawn mower jump into a dahlia. I was shocked at the fact that both of them worried about their belongings but no one cared to look at this innocent dead frog with blood oozing out of it! So from now on, either my brother or myself, have to go and trim Mrs. Hawkes's green turf minding the precious dahlias.
Mrs. Hawkes cares for everyone and birthdays can be times in which she shows her friendliness. It was my birthday the previous week and I went over to her house to give some birthday cake to her. I have to be very careful with the time I go, certainly before 6pm. In return I would always get a £2 coin, wrapped up in intricate tissue paper. It used to be £1 before the £2 coin was invented. I believe that is what has made her special. Expensive gifts lose their value after some time, but a £2 coin can never lose its significance.
Mrs. Hawkes has proven to be a very benevolent and thoughtful lady. Through her life she has suffered from many tragedies: the death of her father and being widowed two months after her marriage. But the main thing is that she never gave up; she stood up in the most bravest of ways. She has smiled through her life and remained energetic, right up to crouching on a walking stick. I have never seen her lose her temper as she's always happy. The horrible truth is that she is alone: no children, no husband and no other relative. But I will always respect her for her courage and for the times when she's cared for me. It's amazing what a two pound coin can do to a never-ending relationship a neighbour.
