Comments on: Bella’s Blues https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/11/16/bellas-blues/ In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London Mon, 17 Nov 2014 19:17:33 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Derek https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/11/16/bellas-blues/#comment-642605 Mon, 17 Nov 2014 19:17:33 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=123315#comment-642605 Moving, rich and wonderful. Thank you.

]]> By: Hugh https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/11/16/bellas-blues/#comment-642089 Mon, 17 Nov 2014 11:36:12 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=123315#comment-642089 Superb Linda, I can’t wait to use that deathless phrase “you give my ass a toothache”. My East End Gran was a cigar roller, I have her apprenticeship papers but never heard tell of what it was like.

Reading your story has made me determined to find out more.

]]> By: Janet M https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/11/16/bellas-blues/#comment-641190 Sun, 16 Nov 2014 23:28:19 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=123315#comment-641190 A beautiful story written with love.

]]> By: Lyn Gameson https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/11/16/bellas-blues/#comment-640888 Sun, 16 Nov 2014 20:09:58 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=123315#comment-640888 Fantastic, Linda. That was such a brilliantly shared recollection that Bella is now woven into the fabric of our own memories – a real treat – thanks.

]]> By: jonathan https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/11/16/bellas-blues/#comment-640813 Sun, 16 Nov 2014 19:08:08 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=123315#comment-640813 A beautiful and affecting memoir. Thank you.

]]> By: Chris F https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/11/16/bellas-blues/#comment-640799 Sun, 16 Nov 2014 19:02:40 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=123315#comment-640799 Very moving… Made me think about my nana… She had three sisters and five brothers and I can remember them all. My own mum was the oldest of four girls and she was eleven when her dad (My granddad) died of TB. My mum also had two stepbrothers from an earlier marriage (He walked out on my nana and disappeared) My mum is 84 and the only one left from that family. All of those great aunts & uncles and their children, all gone… A few family photos are all that I have left to remind me of them and a few memories from my early childhood that now seem like a dream in black and white. Well done Linda… Keep writing.

]]> By: sarah ainslie https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/11/16/bellas-blues/#comment-640793 Sun, 16 Nov 2014 18:59:24 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=123315#comment-640793 Linda I have loved your stories this week, every story fascinating and compelling and especially today, so lovely to feel transported through your words to the life with Bella, what a spirit she was and what a wonderful grandmother to have.

]]> By: StephenH https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/11/16/bellas-blues/#comment-640769 Sun, 16 Nov 2014 18:40:46 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=123315#comment-640769 A beautifully and eloquently written memory. Thank you.

]]> By: Peter Holford https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/11/16/bellas-blues/#comment-640640 Sun, 16 Nov 2014 16:49:56 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=123315#comment-640640 My Nan was born in 1884 and had a rough life being divorced in 1923. She wasn’t as forthright as Bella but it is the same tough outlook on life that saw her survive. She lived till she was 96.

I’ve enjoyed the posts for this week – thank you Linda.

]]> By: Pauline Taylor https://spitalfieldslife.com/2014/11/16/bellas-blues/#comment-640619 Sun, 16 Nov 2014 16:32:57 +0000 http://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=123315#comment-640619 Thank you Linda, I concur with all the comments above, you have a gift for writing and your love for your grandmother is so obvious in every line. I love the photos too, and what a handsome man your father was!

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