In Their Own Words Family Bonding

This week on In Their Own Words, we look back on family gatherings that took a very different turn. For our first story, we go back to 1968, and the day Carla with her mother and grandmother had a surprise visitor

I had been out for dinner with my mother, while my grandmother was watching my younger sisters for the evening. I was wearing anew sleeveless pale blue minidress with light hose and dark shoes, while my mother was wearing a grey top with buttons down one side and no sleeves, a pair of matching pans, dark hose and black shoes in the same style as mine.

We had been to a lovely little trattoria we go to from time to time, and got home expecting to find my grandmother sitting and knitting or something. What we did not expect was to find her resting on a long couch.

Resting is probably not the right word, because she was not happy to see us or at the situation she was in. She was wearing a red dress with a knee length skirt, and black heels -but her wrists were tied together in front of her with red wool, which had been taken down and used to bind her ankles together as well, while there was a rolled-up handkerchief in her mouth, the ends sticking out between her lips.

Mom?

RRHHNN my grandmother shouted but when we turned round there was a man standing there, with a black mask on and dressed in black clothing. I could see he had a pillowcase in one hand, and heard jangling but it was the gun in his other hand that caught the attention of me and my mother.

My babies

Fast asleep,2 he said in a rough voice, 2so be calm on that but I need to tie both of you up. Sit on the small couch, keep quiet, put your hands together on front of you.

We We had better do what he says, Mother said, so we sat down, and watched as he picked up a ball of red wool from my grandmother s handbags. He wound that wool round my wrists to hold them together, and then took it down between my legs before he tied them together as well, and cut it free. I had to watch then as he did the same thing to my mother, before he found two more handkerchiefs from somewhere, and put one in each of our mouths before he took the pillowcase and left the house.

It took a while for me to get on my knees and shuffle over to where he left the scissors, and then cut myself free

That same year, Cissy was ten years old when a gang of bank robbers made sure her father did what they wanted him to do

It was a hot summer, but it was Sunday, and as a family we dressed for Church, so I was wearing a white dress with elbow length sleeves, that had green and yellow big dots on it, white socks and white shoes. My mum was wearing a black sleeveless dress with a red sash round her waist, and black heels, while my gran was wearing a white twin set and a black skirt with red heels.

We had just had a lovely lunch, and Mum told me I could go and read in my room while they went into the front room with my father. I went up to my room and picked out of the bookcase a Famous Five book, and sat on the bed as I started to read it.

I had got to a point where they had all been taken hostage by a group of smugglers, when there was a knock on the door and Mum said she was going to come in. Well, I put my book down, and she came in but there was a man with her I did not recognise. He was wearing a grey jacket over a black jumper, and black pants, as Mum sat down on the bed and told me that this was a man whose friends were with my father and grandmother. They wanted my father to do something for them, but in the meantime some of them were going to stay with me, Mum and Gran but they were going to do something that meant we had to sit quietly.

I asked what that was, and I saw Mum was afraid -so the man told me to stand in front of my mother, and put my hands behind my back. I looked at Mum, who nodded, so I did what he said and I was surprised when he took my hands behind my back, and I felt him using some sort of code to bind my wrists tightly together.

Mum smiled and stroked my hair as she told me the same thing was going to happen to her and to Gran, and I should not be afraid. She then stood up and turned her back to the man as well, and I watched as he bound her wrists together with what looked like the cords we used to lower the blinds on the windows.

I then turned when I heard Dad at the door, and I could see he was still wearing his suit and there was another man with her. Mum told him we were ging to be all right, and he nodded as he said he loved us all, and he would see us later. He left, and then we were escorted down to the front room where the blinds were lowered, and Gran was sitting her hands were behind her back as well, and I could see the white cord that was tied round her ankles.

I was told to sit down next to her, and Mum sat next to me, another man kneeling down with thin white rope in his hands which he used to tie our ankles together as well. The man then sat down and put a strange thing, like a gun, across his laps which made Mum and Gran look at each other.

I asked where they had taken Dad the man smiled and said he was arranging a withdrawal at the bank for them. I saw no reason not to believe him, even if it was Sunday, so I stayed quiet as he sat and looked at us.

It was a while later that the second man came back in, and he had three of Mum s headscarves with him. He rolled one into a band, and then told me to open my mouth before he pulled it between my lips and tied it round my head, so that I could only mumble.

He did the same thing to Mum and Gran before they both left us there and we had to wait for Dad to come back with some policemen before we were freed

Esther and her mother were visited a year later, and ended up sharing some close personal time together

I had just been at my graduation, and was still wearing my dress it was a white dress made of linen with light blue stripes on it, and lace cuffs at my wrists as well as a lace collar, while Mom was wearing a cream silk sleeveless dress with a floral print, and white moccasins. Dad had died a couple of years before, so it was just the two of us.

I had a matching blue ribbon tied in my long brown hair like an Alice band, while Mom had been to the hairdresser to have her hair styled specially. She looked so proud when I got my certificate and as we walked into the house, we were planning to have a special meal.

That never happened, however because when I walked into the room, someone grabbed me from behind, and I inhaled the smell of leather as a gloved hand was clamped over my mouth.

Mom looked at me and opened her mouth to scream but then whoever was holding me said if she did, I would get hurt, so she didn t she just nodded as he told her to sit on the floor.

When she had sat down, the man ordered me to sit with my back to my mom, and not to say a word but we were to put our arms round each other and put our hands together.

I did as he had ordered me, and then I saw the man 0- he was tall, wide, and had a black mask pulled down over his head. He also had a ball of twine, which he used to tie Mom s wrists together in front of my stomach, before he bent my legs and put my feet flat on the floor. He then tied my legs together, the twine played out from Mom s wrists, and then tied my ankles together before he made a tight knot, and cut the twine with a knife.

He then walked round to Mom, and I felt my won wrists being tied together there, before he obviously did to her what he had done to me. We were tied tightly together now, and Mom told me to be brave as the man put the twine back in one pocket of his pants, and then took from the other a roll of sticking plaster.

The cloth tugged on the skin round my mouth as he pressed it down over my mouth, and then I heard Mom mumble as he obviously did the same thing to her. We tried to talk to each other, but our lips were quite literally sealed, as the man went and stole our valuables including Mom s pearls. We had to stay there until a neighbour saw our front door was open, and found us there

Elaine got a birthday surprise she was not expecting, and a game with her and her mother for a short while

It was the day of my twelfth birthday, and Mum had taken me to the hairdresser and shopping. I still remember her dark blue short dress with the double row of buttons, her owl framed glasses, and her white heels.

One of the things we bought was my first set of tights a dark pair, which I had put on when we came home under my blue denim skirt. I fastened a pair of white strapped sandals over my feet, and stood up to look at myself in the mirror, with my peach-coloured t-shirt on.

When I came down to the kitchen, Mum had a birthday cake on the table Dad was not going to be back until late, so we were going to have a slice as well. At least that was the plan but then the back door opened, and we both saw a man walk in. He was wearing a black blazer over a white jumper and black jeans but he also had a pair of dark glasses on and black soft gloves.

Mum asked him who he was and that was when he produced a knife and said we would not be hurt, so long as we did exactly what he said. Well, Mum just held me as I stared at him, and then said we would do whatever he said.

He then told us to stand up and walk up the stairs, with him following before we went into Mum and Dad s room. He then told us both toile face down on the bed, which we did and then I turned my head to watch as he opened a drawer, and took out three sets of my Mum s stockings.

He then told me to put my hands behind my back, and I felt the tight binding as he used one of the stockings to tie my wrists together. I then felt my wrists being tied together, probably with another stocking, before he pulled my ankles back and tied them to my wrists with a third one.

Mum was watching me while he did this, and I watched as he tied her wrists as and ankles with the other three stockings, before he rolled up a black headscarf and tied a knot in the middle, and then gagged her so that the knot sat between her teeth.

He did the same thing to me with a blue headscarf, before he rolled onto our sides and looked at each other as he emptied the contents of Mum and Dad s drawers and wardrobe on the floor, stealing whatever he could find.

We had to wait there after he left, that scarf getting wetter and wetter in my mouth, until Dad finally found us

Finally for this week, Molly remembers a very quiet afternoon with her grandmother

It was a day just before we had to go back to school, and my parents were away, so I was spending a week with Grandma. She was local Tory bigwig, and liked to dress smartly that particular day she was wearing a gold silk jacket over a teal-coloured dress, the skirt down to her knees, and gold heels.

Me? I was a tomboy and I was wearing a harlequin design play suit with long sleeves and hot pants, as well as white ribbed tights and white shoes. I may have been fourteen, but I liked how they looked and felt.

Anyway I was in my room, doing some drawing because Grandma had to make some phone calls. I heard the front doorbell ring a couple of times, but I just thought it was deliveries or the postman so I didn t pay much attention. That is, I didn t until I heard my bedroom door open, and wondered if Grandma had brought me a drink.

She had not it was not Grandma, as I discovered when a hand was pressed down over my mouth, and something sticky was put over my mouth. I had no idea what was going on, until a voice told me not to struggle because if I did, I might be sick, and there would no way for me to get rid of it.

And it was a female voice.

I then sat still, trying to control my breathing through my nose, as my hands were taken behind me and I heard a ripping sound. I then felt something being pressed onto my wrists, and realized they were being taped together in some way.

I then felt my arms being pressed against my sides as the ripping sound continued, and as I looked down I saw two arms wrapping some sort of silver tape around my body.

I was ten made to stand up and turn with the person turning with me, before we walked down the stairs and into the front room. As we passed the table the telephone sat on, I did see the wire had been pulled away from the roll and then I saw Grandma sitting on the couch at one end.

She had her hands behind her back, and silver bands round her arms and body, her ankles and her legs and a silver strip covering her mouth, so I figured she had also had that pressed over her lips like mine had been. I was made to walk over and lie down, my head on her lap and facing her as I felt whoever this was taping my own ankles together, and then my legs below my knees.

She ordered me not to look around until my Grandma said that I could, so I just lay there, trembling as she tried to talk to me and reassure me. All I heard was mumbled sounds, but I guessed what she was trying to do until she looked at me and nodded.

I rolled over to see we were alone again, the radio playing, and then lay with the back of my head on her lap and looked up. I remember hearing me say Whtddhwhddhh or something like that, and Grandma just shook he head and made one sound.

Whttt

And that is all from In Their Own Words this week. Until next time

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