Family History

My grandmother, Rose, was born on the 3rd of July, 1952, in a small village called Bampton, near Oxford. She was the youngest of three children. Her father worked at the local post office and her mother was a nurse. She grew up with lots of books and a big garden full of flowers.

My grandma always wanted to be a doctor. In 1963, when she was eleven years old, she visited her mother at the hospital and knew that was what she wanted to do. She worked very hard at school. In 1970, she finished secondary school with very good results. But she did not go to university straight away. First, she worked for two years at a pharmacy near her home to save money.

In September 1972, she started her medical degree at University College London. It was a long course — six years. She graduated in June 1978. Our whole family was so proud. Later that year, in October 1978, she met my grandfather, James, at a hospital conference in Edinburgh. They got married in April 1980.

Rose started her first job as a doctor at St Thomas' Hospital in London in 1981. It was a busy job, but she loved it. In 1983, my mum, Sarah, was born, and my uncle Tom came along two years later in 1985. That same year, she began to specialise in paediatrics — that means looking after children. She became one of the best doctors in her department.

My grandmother always said that a good doctor needs to talk clearly with patients. In 1994, she wrote her first book, Talking to Young Patients. It was a guide for doctors who work with children. The book sold over 40,000 copies and was translated into five languages. A lot of people read it.

In November 2005, something scary happened. My grandfather James had a serious heart attack and stayed in hospital for three months. Luckily, he got better. After that, Rose decided to work fewer hours and spend more time with her family. James retired in 2007, and they left London and moved to a quiet house in the Cotswolds.

My grandma retired from medicine in 2018, after 37 years as a doctor. Now she spends her time in the garden, reading, and writing. In 2022, she published a book about her life called A Life in Good Hands. I read the whole thing in one weekend.

Today, she is 73 years old. Every morning she gets up early, waters her roses, and reads the newspaper. She always says to me: "It is never too late to start, Lily. I waited until I was twenty to go to university, and I never looked back."