'It was my first time putting it all down on paper' Willenhall author releases special autobiography
A woman who has lived in the Black Country for over 40 years has released a special autobiography documenting her life, starting in Jamaica before pursuing her nursing dreams in the UK during the Windrush years.
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After spending over thirty years working as a nurse and helping people all across the region, Willenhall's Melveta Johnson, who celebrated her 77th birthday yesterday, October 5, took a step back in time and started documenting her life, starting in Jamaica before heading to the UK.
The mother-of-three, grandmother-of-seven and great grandmother-of-three came over to the UK shortly after her mum in the late 1960s with dreams of becoming a nurse, which, after spending time looking after her auntie, she qualified as and spent her career living her dream.
The book, titled 'Looking back, moving forward' puts her life on paper and has recently been released following a book signing in the Willenhall New Testament Church.
Speaking on the reception, Melveta said she has had some 'lovely' comments, with one eager reader finishing the book in a day, unable to put the page-turner down, with Melveta stating that knowing she has done something that people are leaning from is the best part.
Speaking today, she said: "It's about my life, my journey, from childhood to now, its about my work and personal life, my family.
'It's my first time putting things in a book, but I've always written little bits, songs and poems, but this is the first time its become a book.
"I was looking back into my family life and the way I was brought up, decisions I have made and pathways I followed and I wanted the younger generation to learn from them, the good and bad, success and failure, most importantly I want to show people how important it is to stay focussed on what they want in life."
A key theme of the book is the Windrush generation, when her mum came over to the UK and how she soon followed with career plans of her own.
She said: "I talk a lot about the Windrush generation, I came over in 1963, my mm already came in the late 1960s.
"I wrote to my mum and said I wanted to come to England and become a nurse, but my auntie got sick so I looked after her then I worked in different factories until I decided I wanted more and followed my nursing career.
"The feedback has been lovely, one women said she wrote it from start to finish in a day, quite a few people have said they like it which makes me feel I've done something of worth."
