We first heard about Albert (Bert) Miller when his daughter, Phyllis, contacted us. She had seen that we were asking for photos and stories from former staff and patients on our website and wanted to share the photos her father had saved from a skip outside Mildmay. Her husband Stan sent over the photos, and told us some of Bert’s story, not only of his 30-year association with Mildmay, but his incredible life up to then as well. A life very much interlinked with the history of Shoreditch and the East End of London.
He said that Phyllis would love to write some more and send it to us. When Phyllis’s email duly arrived, we were amazed by the beautifully written story of Bert’s life. We urge you to follow the link to read Phyllis’s essay – you won’t be disappointed.
Not only that, but the photographs Bert saved all those years ago are now an important part of our archive, and we have created an online page in Bert’s name to make them available to everyone online.
Phyllis closed her story with a paragraph that should be poignant and meaningful to us all – especially during this global pandemic.
“When we see an elderly person in the street it is easy to dismiss them as old and frail and not worthy of a second thought. But what we don’t see is the life that they have led. They could have led a mundane existence or they might have had an amazing life. Nobody should be taken for granted.”
Thank you so very much, Phyllis and Stan, for sharing your memories with us. We are honoured to memorialise Bert here.