Wholesome True-life
I have been a dinner lady for over 50 years...
Rosemary Stokes, 73, from Birmingham
Adjusting my red and white uniform, the clock was ticking closer to lunchtime. And at 11.45am it was finally go time.
Watching as the dinner hall filled with the chatter of school children, I couldn’t help but smile.
I loved my job.
‘Morning Rose,’ a child grinned from the other side of the counter. ‘May I please have the lasagne?’
And scooping them up a portion, alongside a pile of vegetables and pink sprinkle cake – yes, we still do that – I watched the kids fill their bellies with a warming, nutritious home cooked lunch.
I’d always insisted the children called me by my first name.
And when they’d cleared off back to the classroom, I had a strong sense of pride.
The same sense of pride I’d had for the past 50 years.
I just couldn’t wait to come back tomorrow!
I’d always enjoyed cooking and preparing food.
My mum, Gladys, had been an amazing cook and growing up in Solihull, Birmingham, it was a busy household.
I was the youngest of eight children – four brothers and three sisters – and we all pitched in.
Mum cooked our family such lovely food, that we’d always go back for seconds.
And using the fresh eggs from the chicken coop, Mum would make delicious sponge cakes.
And having the coop also meant we’d have chicken for dinner.
One of my chores was to pluck the feathers.
Getting my hands dirty, it was how we did it back in the day.
And with the freshly plucked bird, Mum would make roast dinner and chicken stew with vegetables and dumplings.
And for dessert – rice pudding! My siblings and I would all fight over the rice pudding skin – it was delicious mixed with jam.
Aged 14, I met my now husband Michael, now 76.
Walking up the street, I’d spotted him walking along the other side of the road.
Much like a Richard Curtis film, we locked eyes across the street.
‘You’ve got your hands full,’ I smiled at him, spotting the two children by his side.
I later found out they were his niece and nephew, and Michael asked me out on a date.
A trip to the pictures followed, and the rest was history.
We’ve been married for 57 years!
Michael and I then had two little girls of our own – Michelle, now 57, and Sharon, 55.
And as much as I loved being a mum, as the kids got older, I wanted a job that would fit around their schooling hours.
In 1974, aged 23, I spotted a vacancy at Lyndon Green Infant School.
They needed a dinner lady. Landing
