When the pieces come together...

I've just had an epiphany. My post the other day about a maiden aunt and a small snippet in my paper have just resulted in a joining of the dots. My favourite maiden aunt (great-aunt actually) was called Em. She was a darling - she insisted on being called Em by everybody, including the kids. I remember taking my eldest grandchild, who would have been about 4 or 5 to see her - she was well into her 90's. With the impertinence of youth my grandson suddenly said "Em, why aren't you married?" and I remember her saying "Oh my dear, there weren't the men, you see". It seemed a strange thing to say and perhaps for that reason it stuck in my mind. I always assumed she meant she'd never met the right man, but now thanks to reading that snippet, it's all become clear. She was born in 1901, so she would have been of marriageable age around the early 1920's. And it suddenly came to me - there weren't the men, because a whole generation of young men had been wiped out by the Great War. Quite literally there weren't the men, and so many young girls, like Em, were denied marriage and family and companionship, and grew up lonely and alone. I am not ashamed to say that when that hit me I cried for Em, and wished I'd taken more notice of her and visited her more often.