Some people love to draw, paint, or sing. My late Mum, Betty, loved to write about life, as she saw it, in poetry. In 1938 she had a poem called 'Heaven' published locally when she was only 13 years old, which she wrote at school in only 30 minutes. 'Heaven' is about how she marvelled at life - heaven to her, at that age, was about nature - flowers and birds, as well as sunsets and stars. Somehow this poem turned up printed in The New Zealand Methodist Times of February 1955!

Meeting her childhood sweetheart in her teenage years, they were soon parted by the Second World War. She wrote some poems about him, the war and her home.

Betty wrote many poems about nature including the seasons. She loved the signs of spring and snowdrops especially but hated winter. Only very occasionally did she write to, or about, an individual in her life.

She had a strong Christian upbringing and her faith saw her through some very difficult times. Some of her poems reflect her faith, without being (as a friend said to me) "too religious for people who do not share this strong faith". Many of her poems were published in local church newsletters but a few were published more widely, including in The Lincolnshire Life County Annual.

I have selected some of her poems and photographs and presented them in the form of a biography of her life. I have added some short narratives to supplement these. Included are some poems that relate to part of her philosophy of life, such as 'Compromise', 'Courage' and 'Honesty'. She was also a great advocate of living for today, as her poems such as 'Live' and 'Do it now!' demonstrate.