June Spencer

She decided she was an invalid.

I mean, she missed so much.

Tell me about that, her deciding to be an invalid.

What happened?

Well, I think she thought she'd got heart trouble.

She was very anemic and she thought she had a heart problem.

And she took to her bed.

She liked me there all the time in case she had one of these attacks that she had.

So I would sit in her bedroom with the curtains closed because she didn't like the bright light.

But it was very frustrating for a teenager.

I think she didn't face up to it.

And I don't think the medical care she was getting held rather encouraged her.

And my father rather encouraged her as well.

He was so worried about her.

He was a bit over-fussy with her, I think.

No, by that time they were living with us because my father had gone blind.

And when my father died, of course, my mother stayed on.

And finally I got her into a very nice residential home

where she bucked up no end and started going for walks on her own.

She'd never been out of the house without being supported on both sides for years.