Some people never learn to read or swim or even cook as children - but with the right spirit there’s still time to make things right
‘The thought of being able to cycle alongside my children kept me going’:I was 44 when I learned to cycle. I grew up in Yorkshire and when I was about five, my younger brother had broken his leg falling off a tricycle. We never had bikes after that – and like many girls my age of Asian heritage, I wasn’t pushed to do sporty or outdoor activities.
I’ll never forget the day I mastered pedalling and started whizzing around the track with my friends. We were all just so thrilled that we could do it. It felt exhilarating and immensely joyful. When I was 53, a colleague suggested I secretly have swimming lessons. She knew I was going to Tenerife with our friends at Christmas. “Surprise them – learn how to swim and don’t tell them,” she said., and one of the staff benefits is free sessions in the pool with the charity’s sports and exercise therapists. So I decided to take my colleague’s advice.
For years after she died, I got by on readymade meals. It became very expensive and my daughter kept on at me to learn to cook, and bought me cookery books. She pointed out that I had time on my hands, in retirement. But I couldn’t see the point of cooking just for me and I felt scared of not knowing what to do.
By then, I felt that I’d let myself and my family down. So I put up a front, to make people think I could read when I couldn’t. I’d guess words and remember others, cracking jokes about my lack of intelligence to hide the truth. But my husband knew. One day, about three years ago, he suggested we watch a BBC programme where Jay Blades, presenter ofIt struck a nerve because Jay couldn’t read to his daughter and I was pregnant at the time.
I had tried to learn the recorder at primary school, but I didn’t have support and encouragement at home. I can even remember my father making comments about how awful it sounded. So I gave up.
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