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Young Ernie saw it as a stepping stone.  He wouldn’t be there for long.  He had big ambitions.  Two years at top.

 

He had always been called Ernest; he was named after his grandfather.  Even in these times it was an old-fashioned name.  He was content with Ernie – that was what he was called at school and that was what he expected to be called when he started work.  The problem was that there already was an Ernie on board and the older Ernie took priority.  Ernie was the baby of the bunch so they gave him a nickname.  Everyone had a nickname but his stuck. 

 

Nicknames were allocated without much thought and without much depth.

 

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Ernie had red hair so they called him Rusty.

 

Ernie's Plans

 

Enjoy Youth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ernie’s parents had got married when his Mum was 19 and his father 30.  He was born eight months later.  He never had the courage to ask the question.  His four brothers followed so there was little money in the household.  Ernie scoffed at the people who said they were poor but happy; he did not consider that the two elements correlated.  It was certainly not what he wanted in life.  He did not want to be poor and he did not want to be tied down.

 

He did however, want to be happy.

 

Ernie did not want to scrimp and save to survive like his parents did.  He did not want the burden of a large family both emotionally and financially.

 

Ernie did not want to get married young.  He wanted a string of girlfriends, to sow his oats as they say.

 

Ernie did not want a dead-end job, he wanted a profession, something that would make him money.

 

 

Travel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Australia was the furthest place away that he could think of.  Australia filled Ernie’s dreams.  His school atlas had a page turned over and the word ‘Sydney’ was almost invisible as he had rubbed over the word so many times. 

 

He would not go straight there for there were so many other stops on the way that he wanted to see – Europe, the Middle East, Singapore, Auckland and then the final destination -Sydney.

 

Ernie felt it was his destiny.

 

Ernie was good at Maths so he calculated meticulously how much he would have to save for this trip, taking a job in finance to finance his dream.  It would just be a stepping stone, a fund raiser.

 

 

 

Football

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Schools tend to specialise in certain sports.  At Sittingbourne Grammar School it was rugby.  At most grammar schools it was either rugby or cricket.  However, Ernie’s sporting interests lay in football.  He didn’t often get the chance to play and rarely his father would take all the boys to watch Sittingbourne FC.  That was a real treat, and one which Ernie relished.  But this did not happen very often as the family could not afford it.

 

It was a dream that many, many young boys throughout the country held.  Ernie wanted to be noticed, to be spotted, to be picked.  He dreamed that one day he would be selected to play in the First Division.

 

In his mind he would select which team he would play for.  It would have to be one of the top London clubs, certainly nothing northern.  It would have to be a club that aspired to more than Sittingbourne FC.

 

 

 

Money

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At least six bedrooms and there had to be a swimming pool; that was essential.  It wouldn’t be in Kent.  Anywhere but Kent.  Maybe a house in Sydney.

 

He would retire at 50.  Life was not about work.  Work was just about making money to live this life he aspired to.

 

This job was just a stepping stone.  All of his life his family had got by, but for Ernie that simply was not enough.

 

He wanted success.

 

Ernie had no doubt that he would be rich and therefore he would be happy.

 

 

 

Inheritance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ernie wanted a boy to take after him.  All men want boys to take after them.

 

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Ernie was going to earn lots of money, retire early and travel the world.

 

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Cynthia fell pregnant with Thomas early in their courtship.  It changed everything in his plans.  Those were the days when if you got a girl in trouble, you did the honourable thing and married her.  Ernie was a man of honour. 

 

Though he never regretted having a son.  Thomas was his pride and joy.  All he wanted for his son was for him to achieve more than he had. 

 

Ernie wanted Thomas to live his own dreams.

 

Because, for Ernie, only one of his dreams came true.

 

It was the best one.

 

It made him a rich man and the journey in fatherhood was a long one.

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