'I have lived a charmed life in many ways '

'I have lived a charmed life in many ways '

Harry Browne reflects upon his life; sources of pride, achievements and disappointments.

Harry Browne

Trinity College Dublin

2010

This item is protected by original copyright

This content may be downloaded and used (with attribution) for research, teaching or private study. It may not be used for commercial purposes without permission.

Harry Browne

Reflections

Life Story

Dublin

2010's

My proudest achievement is not mine at all, except in a very peripheral manner. I am immensely proud of how my children have grown up into fine, well rounded people who care for each other and are a continuing source of pride and satisfaction to me as the years go on. They may have had some of my life philosophy rub off on them over the years but they are each individuals in their own rights and well capable of forming their own life choices. I am proud of a 45 year marriage to my best friend Sheila. She has been my bulwark and strength through good times and bad and has always been there for me whenever I have needed support or consolation. She is a strong and vital person who is always ready to help out those who are less well off than herself, and ready at all times to extend a helping hand to anybody who is in difficulty. She bakes, sews, cleans, cooks and most especially irons and on top of this she very successfully ran the Phoenix Squash Club for twelve years. All in all a remarkable woman. An enduring source of satisfaction is my 34 year career in the Aluminium Window Industry. During that period I learned a whole new industry, managed several production facilities, owned and managed my own company and finished my career as a system designer and technical expert on the design, fabrication and installation of advanced window systems. I pride myself on my never stopping learning. Everywhere I go and every day I learn something new, sadly as the years roll on the new stuff pushes the old either out altogether or to the dusty recesses of my mind so that when I need it the retrieval process can be cumbersome. Another source of pride is that I managed to achieve a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management and a Masters in Quality Management, entirely on my own initiative and at my own expense. I would strongly recommend adult education to anyone. It is an entirely different process than early life education. The lecturers are, in the main, younger than the students and one brings a set of life experiences to the process which puts the student in a very different relationship to the lecturer than was the case in former times. I would go so far as to suggest that the teacher in this process is as much on a learning path as the student and the process is a collaborative one. To be totally accurate I did not finish my Masters dissertation so I need to do that in order to finish the degree formally. I may get around to it one day. I have lived a charmed life in many ways. I have had a very happy marriage, my children are nice people and my grandchildren are little angels, every one. I am financially solvent so long as the Government thieves do not strip away my savings, my health is good and is watched over by several doctors, both general practitioners and cardiologists and I am in a position to do anything I like within reason. My major disappointment is that I was not a successful businessman and that due to the failure of my business that my relationship with many of my family was sundered. This is a source of sadness to me and always will be. Unfortunately my brothers with whom I was in business are now both passed on so that is a breach which cannot be healed.

Irish Research Council for Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (IRCHSS)

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)