It Was Her Summer

It was her summer It was in June 1950, mother was divorced from my father, he had been a seaman during the war and had never overcome the trauma. not that I know anything about this, nor did my mother She sat in the park holding hands with a man, I had never seen before, to get me away from there he gave me a few shillings I threw the water in the pond. Mother slapped me hard across my face Shock!!! I vowed never to return home. She had met the man at the factory where they worked they had a week`s vacation went on a tent tour to an island I was home alone frying egg & bacon or I opened a tin of sardines (that`s how I became interested in cookery) Her new man was called Kalle and we became good friends, in the summer we cycled to a place outside the town And he always bought me an ice-cream. He had a weakness for the drinks, arguments followed and one day he was gone Anyway, the summer was over, but I knew how to Peel and cook potatoes.