Alias/Mat/Vic.......and Maggie who knows about my circumstances. I'm always delighted to hear about successful adoptions. In a perfect world they would all be successful but sadly that's not the case. Mat, you ask what my personal feelings are based on. The answer to that is personal experience. There are huge parallels between my life pattern and that of Jeremy and Sheila and I certainly know what it feels like not to fit.
It wouldn't have been unreasonable for the Bambers to expect that the children they adopted would blend in in such a way that no demarcation line was discernable but it seems it may not have worked out like that. We do know that Sheila, if her letter is to be believed,was desperate for June's approval and I feel certain that, if RB's diary is anything to go by, farming was not a natural vocation for Jeremy.
I'd like to say something about what Ann has said of Sheila. I've had it pointed out to me that it was a witness statement, not a memoir, but whilst she has nothing positive to say of her, she does say that when Sheila visited for lunch, all she wanted to do was talk and how she was too busy to listen. She gives the impression that she had no common ground with Sheila.
I haven't pulled these thoughts out of the ether. I've based them in part on my own experiences and in part from what has been said by the family. Undoubtedly, some of you will feel that I've misinterpreted what I've read.
PS. Should have included Bridget in the above. Apologies.