My Life, My Testimony
I wasn't brought up in a Christian home and I didn't attend Sunday School. My parents found it very difficult to show any kind of love, especially my mother who was a very hard woman and left the running of the household and childcare to my Father.
During the Blitz (the bombing of Belfast during the second world war,) my sisters and I were evacuated to Maghera County, Londonderry for two years. Although my mother never came to visit us, my father would have cycled all the way to see us. My youngest sister Sheila and I stayed with Mrs. Peden. My sister Maureen stayed with another family close by. It wasn't long before my mother took Sheila back home and Maureen came to stay with me at Mrs. Peden's who was a lovely woman and I remember being very happy staying there.
When the war ended, I moved back home which was now in Whiteabbey, and started work. I worked in Carrickfergus (putting the studs on coats and waterproofs for the soldiers) in the parachute factory, before getting a job in Gallagher's Tobacco Company where I was able, (with bonuses) to make a wage as good as my fathers. Despite this, I had no social life, as after work I had to do my share of household chores. I did however, go to the pictures with my friend from Maghera, and although I was home before 10 p.m. my mother gave me a hiding. I didn't learn the lesson though; I went a second time to the pictures and again was home before 10 p.m. This time, I was locked out until 4 a.m. and took shelter in the hut of the outside toilet. When I finally got into the house, my mother gave me another hiding and this time split my lip. After this, I moved out and rented a room with my friend Mrs. Cadden from Maghera for a while before moving to Londonderry to live with my sister. While there, I worked in the envelope factory, but I didn't enjoy it and the wages were a fraction of what I was previously making in Gallagher's. I soon moved back to Belfast and was fortunate to get back into work at Gallagher's.
In 1948, I met James Beggs through my sister Maureen who, at the time, was courting his brother. Both brothers were in the Air Force and stationed in Gibraltar during the war. After the war, James took a job in the Ormo Bakery, and continued to serve part time with both the Air Force and the Territorial Army. We married in January 1949, and lived with James's parents. Although grateful for a place to live, it was at times difficult as James's father was a very hard man. During our time there we were blessed with our son Jim and when we got our own home in Finaghy, we were blessed with our first daughter, Sarah and then as the years went by, two more wonderful daughters, Pearl and Pamela and in 1971 the lord called our second Baby Son, Stephen Paul, who only lived for a very short time, home to Heaven. God had blessed us with children, and a home which didn't have all the luxuries but we were very happy.