I was born and brought up in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. Here I had a happy childhood until my father’s unexpected demise when I was nine and my brother two. Then my mother returned to work and life was not so easy. Nevertheless I passed my eleven plus and went to grammar school. Following this I had various jobs doing accounts but nothing that you could call a career, although working in a boys prep school had its enjoyable moments. In my thirties, through church, I met a counsellor who helped me to understand the impact that my early life had had on me. Following this, I was accepted at Leicester Polytechnic (now Demontfort University) for a degree course in speech and language therapy.

The next three years were not easy, especially financially, but they led to a fulfilling and enjoyable career which lasted twenty years. At the start of my second year at Leicester I met Michael, a civil engineer, and increasingly shared my time between Leamington, Leicester and Lichfield. Most of my new career was spent in Solihull, working with children in clinics and schools. My last and most demanding job was as part of a multidisciplinary team assessing and diagnosing children with autism.

In 1997, Michael and I were married. We spent several happy holidays at a gîte owned by friends in the Dordogne and decided to have a holiday home built. In 2013, my mother died, and we both retired, increasingly spending more time in France. Now we live in France and joining the DLCI has been one of the means by which I have made new friends and explored different areas. Apart from good food and wine, a meeting with the Dordogne ladies always promises interesting and intellectual conversation, which I appreciate.