75th VE Day Celebrations

We had some wonderful lockdown celebrations for the 75th VE Day at our homes -they might not have been exactly as we had planned and anticipated but we all had a great thought provoking day. Residents worked on decorations, the kitchen teams planned menus and the weather afforded us the luxury of time in the garden whilst we reminisced and considered those lost and the joy of the war in Europe ending 75 years ago. We had residents wearing their medals, others telling stories about the day itself and through all of it there was wonderful music and dancing. Times might be hard and there are new challenges, but our staff always learn from things our wonderful residents have been through and this was one of the most moving times we all shared.

Many of our residents shared their stories and we loved them all. Here is one that we wanted to share with you as we mark the 75th Anniversary of VE Day. Here is Emily’s story, as told by her daughter-in-law, and she lives with us at Green Willow (and she is photographed below holding a photo of Roger in his uniform):

“Emily’s husband Roger was a very special man indeed. Everyone loved him and he had a very naughty sense of humour and a brilliant chuckle, that made everyone around him laugh.  He was also a Petty Officer in the Royal Navy and was very active in WW11 even being sunk three times in Icelandic waters, where he was on the convoys, it’s amazing he survived this on three occasions. Steve Emily’s son followed his dad into the Royal Navy in the 60’s and he still has a white ensign flag from his days in the signals, we shall be flying that today in honour of his dad and all those who went through the war.”