EDUCATION GUEST POST MARIANNE FROM: Esme and the Laneway

This week’s guest post on Education comes from Marianne from Esme and the Laneway. The lovely Marianne and I share a love of vintage, oh if only to spend one day in her wardrobe! I would be in vintage heaven. Marianne also gives some great advise on her blog about wearing and owning vintage clothing. Make sure you pop over to Marianne's blog and Facebook page and give her lots of love.

I didn’t get to know my grandmother all that well but I’m glad I had the chance to know her at least a little bit.

Born in England, she moved to South Africa in her twenties, returning to the UK in her sixties when I was about 8 or 9. I think she lived with us for a while but I can’t really remember; perhaps she just stayed with us for a week or two or perhaps it was longer. It’s all a bit hazy and quite a long time ago.

And while I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with her, I did see our similarities. She had dainty hands and feet and was a foot model in her younger years. I, too, have small(ish) feet, and while I’ve neither posed nor pointed these tiny tootsies for the camera and have no pressing desire to do so, I am more than comfortable to expose my peds to the world – no small feat (ha!) in a world where we are so often shy of such apparently straightforward things. But there’s no foot shame here! They say things skip a generation and hey, I’ll take it!

But moving from one country to a very different one after growing used to a certain lifestyle for almost a whole lifetime is not easy. Adjusting to a new home and a new set of circumstances – and, from what would be a very old memory, the cold weather! – is a big deal and my grandmother seemingly just... dealt with it. In a practical, no-nonsense way, she simply got on with it. Of course, being a child means you aren’t privy to a lot of things and there would have been good times and bad times, but there was an overall attitude she radiated of just getting on with it.

There could have been a hundred things she could have taught me, but she gave me a most important lesson: play the hand you’re dealt.

I don’t have any photographs of her, but I like to think of her and thank her for setting such a good example and being a strong, female role model in my formative years. And, well, yes, for the neat feet, too!

Image sourced by Marianne off pinterest

Please Note: Images and words are Marianne's unless otherwise indicated