Geraldine was born in 1960 in Dublin.  She remembers happy summer holidays spent with the extended family in Tipperary and considers herself  half ‘Dub’ and half Tipperary. She describes herself a quiet well-behaved girl who became more rebellious in her late teens. She disliked school, mainly because of the way it was run by the nuns and how some subjects were taught and recalls that the old-fashioned way Irish was taught made her hate the language well into adulthood. The pupils hated the story of Peig from the Blasket Islands.
Her dislike of school led to Geraldine leaving after her Leaving Certificate and after a period at Secretarial School moving to an office job with a local firm. She recalls the work Christmas parties – formal affairs in hotel ballrooms and the drunken behaviour of some of the older men.
Geraldine also recounts with affection her social life in Dublin with groups of friends; the bars visited and bands seen, laughing about how some were places that ‘your mother wouldn’t want you to go to’. Many of the stories about her life between 15-25 are recalled with humour, and some with sadness. She talks about valued holidays and friendships. 
She described having a loving, solid family; her father being lovely and having a great sense of humour and how he was unusual for the time in being very involved with his children and helping out around the home. Her mother was very practical and had the final word and dealt well with her teenage rebellion, including refusing to go to Mass. She tells of her mother and father’s deaths when she was her late twenties/early thirties and of her sadness that her mother never talked about her illness. 
After a long period working for the same company Geraldine describes how her life changed with a sudden decision to leave following a company merger and how this eventually led to a career in holistic medicine. This was followed by an unexpected return to further and higher education studying English and History. She reflects on her increasing confidence and maturity and the importance of sharing women’s stories.