Five Generations, One Happy Family

We didn’t have material goods but we were happy’…

Wendy, 84, had Desiree when she was 21.

I was 15 when I went to a dance and saw a young man adjusting his bowtie. Ron, then 21, asked me to dance and I said yes. We wanted to get engaged on my 16th birthday but my mother said I was too young and in those days, you did what your parents told you. We married when I was 18 and were happily married for 47 years, until he sadly passed away.

I can’t believe I’m a great-great-grandmother. I gave Des the middle name Elizabeth, just as my mother had given me in ode to my grandmother. Des continued the theme with Dominique and now Ellie and Eisla have the same middle name too. It feels special to have something that connects us all.

‘My generation were told we could have it all.’

Desiree, 62, raised her family in the 1980s, juggling home life with a demanding career…

In the 1980s women were told we could have it all. We could be ambitious career women and raise a family and we felt guilty if we were ‘just’ a mum. With hindsight I wish I’d spent more time at home. I hope true equality means that for Ellie and Eisla’s generations, women don’t feel any pressure either way. 

‘Midwives treated me like a child, but they showed me I was capable.’

Dominique, 35, gave birth to Ellie when she was a teenager.

Babysitting the neighbour’s children when I was 12, I couldn’t wait to have a baby of my own. At 17 I was studying beauty therapy when I found out I was pregnant. I finished the course four days before Ellie was born. All the other mums on the maternity ward were at least ten years older than me and the midwives would feed and soothe their babies while ignoring me and Ellie. I love that there are five generations of our family alive today. Wendy has seen me have kids and she’s seen my kids have kids. She’s a perfect grandmother and Mum is my best friend. 

‘I want to be a fun mum, like my mum was.’

Ellie-May, 18, followed in her mum’s footsteps, giving birth when she was 17.

I think Nana G, Nana and Mum are all amazing mothers. Mum used to let my friends come back to ours for water fights and they all said she was so cool and fun. I want to be like that for Eisla. I’m insecure about a lot of things, but I am confident that I am a good mum.