Was life really better fifty years ago? The majority of responders  on one of the facebook pages  that I follow seem to think so. They cite fond memories of family Sunday lunches when the shops were shut, children playing outside, actively making their own entertainment undistracted by digital devices and televisions with only a few channels but much more entertaining programmes. My recall of the early 1970’s is that, as always, life had its ups and downs.  Not the same stresses and difficulties as  today, but just as troubling for those affected. At the start of the seventies there were homes in my street that still had no bathroom and outside toilets. We did not have central  heating until 1976. Arising  from a nice warm bed to go downstairs to light the fire in an unwelcoming, cold kitchen is no fun! Then there were the  power cuts. Electricity was on for four hours then off for four hours and my sons did their homework by candlelight. The seventies were a time of change for me. I resumed the studies that I had given up to have children and trained as a teacher. By the end of the seventies we were a “two income family” and in a position to upgrade the house and take trips abroad. But was it better? NO! It was different. I was happy then and I am happy now. Each decade we learn to live and cope with what life throws at us. Life would be awfully boring without challenges!

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