Gen 3: Grace (the involuntary housewife)

Grace was born as the first of a set of twins that were born after their mother, Josephine, had suffered a miscarriage. She named her Grace as a result. Her sister, Hazel, named after the color of her eyes, was her best friend growing up, even if she could not be more different in her personality. While Hazel is her mother's daughter, wanting nothing more than a family and stable marriage (and a husband with a generous income), Grace wants to get to know the world and stand on her own two feet.

As she grew up, life was not always easy on the two girls. Their parents fell on hard times in the years of the depression, moving around, their father barely managing to support them as they moved where the jobs were. For Hazel this is the nightmare, and she more than anything wants a stable life and beautiful things to feel safe. For Grace it means nothing is stable and you might as well live life to the fullest. She's inspired by her aunt Anna, who has always taken care of herself, and contrast her to their mother's suffering as their father lost his job. So the moment she became a young adult, she enrolled in university and went to live in Britechester.

Studies were hard, but student life was fun, and while there she got to reconnect to her eldest brother Thomas. She also met David. Handsome and fun, he was easy to date, and pleasant to kiss. She didn't take the relationship to be too serious, always certain he was cheating on her. But just as she was about to graduate he sprung a proposal on her. Or sort of a proposal, asking her to live with him after he's graduated. Grace was surprised, and uncertain, but she couldn't find any good reason to turn him down. After all, what if she does and she then finds out he was the one that was right for her? She doesn't want to lose him, and so she agrees.

After graduation, she moved back home with her parents, where Hazel's new husband had found her a job as a filing clerk. She wished it was a more well paying job, higher up at a position more suitable for her education, but is told again and again that she won't need to work once she and David are married anyway. But of that Grace was certain, married or not, she intended to make her own money.

Of course, life does not always work out as intended. Shortly after their marriage, Grace was fired as the firm did not want married women to work there. So here she was, a housewife, even though she never really wanted to be. So when David wants to pursue a family she agreed. After all, what else was she supposed to do with her time? Baby Kenneth was born on Christmas Day 1954, and while this life might not have been what Grace dreamed of, she could not help but to fall in love with her baby boy. 

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