THANKS YOU JESUS!

I was born in Ipswich, at Adelphi Place on Lower Brook Street. When I was six my family moved to Tanners Lane, now Civic Drive. I went to Smart Street School, Christchurch Girls and Tower Ramparts Secondary. I was a very introverted child. One of a family of eleven children. We were 'THE GODFREYS' and there were a lot of us. I believe we had cousins whose names struck fear into the hearts of innocent bystanders.

When I left school I worked at the Co-op and in 1966 went to work at The Burstal Hotel. This was a hotel for USAF families arriving in, and leaving England when their tours were starting or ending. While I worked there I also got a part time job in the Airmen's Club at Bentwaters in the cashiers cage on the weekends. By this time I was not quite as introverted and found I did like to dance and party.

Talk about heaven for a single girl, all those nice young men. I had a lot of fun and one evening this really cute guy caught my eye. I managed to move the group I was with to almost within touching distance of him and he started up a conversation....with my friend and asked her out. Totally shattered. To make a long story short they did not connect, THANK YOU JESUS and a couple of weeks later a friend told me he knew guy named David that was interested in taking me out. As he described David my heart just sang. THIS WAS MY MAN!!

We started dating and were married in June of 1970. We moved to Montgomery, Alabama with the air force and were both totally miserable. I could not get used to cooking for three people (we had a son at this time) I was used to helping cook meals for a large family and many nights I would fix a meal that would have fed a mob. We laughed about that for a long time. I could not make myself understood in the stores. Those southern accents and a Suffolk accent did not meld well.

David was finally discharged and we went to Tyler Texas, his hometown. My mother-in-law was, and is, the sweetest lady. She treated me like a queen because I was married to her favorite child. I was in Texas sixteen years before I had the nerve to get back on a 'plane to go home to England. I wish I hadn't waited, but we had a family reunion and my sister who lived in California and the sister who lived in San Antonio went too. When I go home now people look at me and say 'She's a yank'. I may look like a yank and I may sound a little different but I am truly British to the core.

David and I were married twenty five years, one month and eleven days when he died of leukemia. He was the best thing that ever happened in my life. We had two children, a son David and a daughter, Niki. After David died I thought about going back to live in England but my kids were settled in their homeland and I can't go off and leave them. I try to go back home every two years and last year my son and daughter went too. They loved England, hated the food, but plan on going back as often as they can. I bought two thousand Tetley Tea bags back with me.

I am still a British citizen. I buy a lot of groceries at the British food shop in Dallas. I live with my sister Elaine in Garland, Texas. We watch BBC America and are addicted to the EastEnders, love the Vicar of Dibley and Ballykissangel. At Christmas we buy Christmas Crackers still and eat dinner with our paper hats on. Our children and the grandchildren do too. Some things are too ingrained to give up.

I like living in America but if I should ever go back to England to live I will have to take my big 'fridge and washer and dryer.

Rule Brittania!

Christine Glenn (nee Godfrey) March 2000