but my earliest memories are in the flat I grew up in.
I first met my grandmother in 2007. She’d lived in Somalia her entire life and, at aged 70, moved to the UK to live with us. She was Somali through and through. Somali was the only language she spoke and the only culture she’d been immersed in for nearly three quarters of a century. An absolute contrast to my melting pot of conflicting ideals and mismatched customs.
My grandparents probably never imagined that a grandchild of theirs would grow up in England and struggle with their native tongue. At my age my parents never imagined they would live in the UK today. But that’s what happened and a significant lesson I have learned from the past generations of my family is to live and love the circumstances life throws at me.
Check out the gallery of my favourite pictures from some of our family albums.
— LESSONS LEARNT —