I thought that Canada Day would be a fitting day to share this personal story in commemoration of those whom many have called the Greatest Generation. One of the very last of this generation, my paternal grandmother, Gladys Fox (née Hope), passed away recently at the age of ninety-six. (You can read more about her life here.)
Gladys was born in London, England, and grew up in Notting Hill in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in an era when this now posh area was still a humble working-class neighbourhood. The family lived in a flat above the Portland Road Dairy that they owned, and her childhood was a happy and stable one. Everything changed, however, with the events of World War II. As a teenager, she bunked in government shelters and underground stations during the nightly bombing raids of the London Blitz. The death and devastation she witnessed each following morning were a traumatic experience that remained with her for life.
Continue reading “Del’s Legacy: A Canada Day Commemoration”
Claudia Fox Reppen 