Tag: writing

Life in 1926

lindamaycurry4 Comments

Each August, National Family History Month in Australia and New Zealand invites us to pause and look back. This year’s theme, Ancestors: Mundane to Magnificent, may be interpreted with a simple question: what did our people’s ordinary days actually look like and where, within the routine, did something like magnificence quietly live?

Carmel of Carmel’s Corner has created a Geneameme to celebrate Family History Month. Carmel’s idea for the Geneameme is to look at which of our ancestors were alive in 1926. She asks, “Who was alive in 1926, how old were they, what were their circumstances? Join in and post about your ancestors this Family History Month. 

I have chosen the maternal line first as it is relatively uncomplicated compared to my paternal line.

Maternal line in 1926

Christina Cameron Lock (Robbie) 1875 -1926 – my great grandmother, aged 50 in 1926.  

Christina wouldn’t have seen much of 1926 because she died on the 21st January of that year.  She left behind four adult children and her husband Reuben. Her Death Certificate says she died from Morbus Brightii (six months) and Apoplexy (2 days). Morbus Brightii or Brights Disease was a broad term for kidney disease or kidney failure. As a result her blood pressure would have risen to dangerous levels.  This would have resulted in the stroke that finally killed her.

Reuben Benjamin Lock -1872-1943 – aged 54 in 1926

The year of 1926 was a bad time for Reuben, my great grandfather.  Both his wife and his mother Emma Lock died that year.  His eldest daughter Myrtle left her husband taking her daughter with her and his second daughter Ruby divorced her husband after he ran off to New Zealand.  His two sons may still have been living at home but the eldest, Charles, was engaged to be married and would be leaving soon.  Claude, the youngest, had learning difficulties so his future was uncertain.

Reuben moved around Victoria chasing opportunities.  In 1926 he was a fruiterer in Terang but in previous years he had been a fishmonger and an agent for sourcing and supplying fish, fruit and vegetables. After Christina’s death he went back to Camperdown and returned to the occupation of fishmonger.  This was not before he married again on the 11th September 1926.  His new wife, Rosemary Emma, left him after two weeks owing to “disagreements on private matters”.

Reuben liked a drink at the pub and had had a long-suffering wife for 30 years.  His new wife obviously found life with him unbearable.

Myrtle May Hall (Lock) 1896 -1976 – aged 30 in 1926

My grandmother married Walter Sydney Hall in 1916 when she was 20 years old and went to live with him in his house in Railway Crescent, Williamstown, Victoria. She gave birth to my mother in 1917. It appears that Walter was not living at the home for much of that time but at his sister’s house nearby. In 1926, perhaps spurred on by her mothers’ death, Myrtle left Williamstown and took her nine-year-old daughter to Glebe in Sydney.  Here she continued her trade of dressmaking. Her day would have started early, lighting the fuel stove to heat the smoothing irons. By 9 am the clients would be arriving so Myrtle would be draping fabrics, pinning carefully and discussing the latest European fashions. On some days Myrtle might catch the tram to the city to select materials at Anthony Horderns or Mark Foys.  Most days she would be sewing on her Singer treadle sewing machine. This would be followed by hand finishing hems and buttonholes and attaching beadwork.

Walter Sydney Hall (1870-1933) aged 56 in 1926

!926 was the year my grandmother left my grandfather, although he appears to have been living at his sister’s house according to the electoral rolls.  He was a wood machinist at the Newport Railway Workshops. His day would be spent at either the dedicated log mill, sawmill or woodworking shop.  At this time roughly 2.700 men and women worked onsite maintaining and building Victoria Railways rolling stock. He may have been involved in producing framing and interior panelling for the red suburban electric Tait trains and country passenger cars.

According to Myrtle, Walter’s main fault was that he gambled away the money he earned.  The workshops were notorious for their gambling culture.  Men would receive their weekly wages and immediately hand it over to an “agent” for a race that afternoon. As a keen AFL player in his youth Walter may have played a game called Trugo invented by the railway workers at Newport. It used a heavy rubber mallet to strike a rubber ring through a set of goalposts and was designed to be played in central yards during lunch breaks to keep the men away from illegal card games and SP bookies.

Elsa May Hall (1917-1997) aged 9 in 1926

 Elsa, my mother, was born in 1917 in Williamstown to Myrtle (21) and Walter (47).  1926 was a year of upheaval for her. Taken out of her school in Williamstown she left her childhood home and her father for good.  Her grandmother had also died in January.  After searching for a new home she and her mother settled in Glebe, Sydney, NSW, where she started Forest Lodge Public School. While her mother spent her days making dresses for well-to-do ladies, Elsa made a close friend called Ruth and enjoyed playing netball at school.  Her greatest joy was riding her scooter along the road in Jubilee Park opposite her home.

Paternal Side in 1926

The father I grew up with and who died of a heart attack when I was 10, had a very strong influence on my life, despite the short time I had with him.  It was with amazement that I discovered when I was 64, through DNA, that he was not my biological father.  I have therefore chosen to write about both fathers and also the grandmother I grew up with.

Ella Maud Price (Ridgway) 1875-1965 – aged 51 in 1926

My grandmother was born in Picton, NSW, married John Price in 1904, had a son Linden in 1907 and lost her husband (a stationmaster) to a heart attack in 1913.  By 1926 she had spent years as a housekeeper for Mr Alfred Munro, a member of a large pastoral family in northern NSW.  He had his own property called Boonal, near Boggabilla. 

Her day would have started around 5.30am, lighting the fire in the wood stove and. making porridge, chops, damper and tea. Washing dishes, scrubbing kitchen tables, and managing the wood and water supply would be next. Beds had to be made, rugs shaken and slops emptied.  The midday meal would then be prepared as it was the main meal of the day.  Cleaning this up would be followed by baking bread, cakes and biscuits. Maybe mending, polishing and sweeping would take place.  Then the evening meal would be prepared with potatoes and other root vegetables peeled. After serving the evening meal the dishes would be washed and the kitchen tidied again. Ella may have had help to perform these tasks which would have given her time to look after the chickens, collect eggs, feed any orphaned lambs and take photographs.  This was her hobby and she enjoyed sending her pictures in to magazines along with articles about life in the bush and her strict views on the upbringing of children.

Linden John Ridgway Price (1907-1961) aged 19 in 1926

In 1926 my father Linden was living on the property called Boonal where his mother was a housekeeper.  He had attended Newington for three years but left at the age of 15 in 1922. He had spent some time as a trainee wool classer but didn’t take to it.  By 1926 the rabbit plague in Australia was widespread. Alfred Munro was keen to reduce the numbers of these creatures on his property so Linden and many other men spent their days trapping.  He would have been up early in the morning, rolled out his swag and eaten damper with hot billy tea. He would then saddle his horse and check each trap along the Macintyre River, resetting the traps with scented pollard bait. A quick death for the rabbits and he would make for his camp, skinning the rabbits and putting their pelts on wire frames.  He would salt the pelts to stop them from rotting, mend any broken traps and sharpen his blades. Life was made more difficult because of the impact of prickly pear.  The rabbits chose to burrow beneath the thickets as they offered protection from predators. The bristles would lodge in the skin and cause festering sores for anyone laying traps near the pear thickets.

Albert Henshall !892-1952 aged 34 in 1926

Albert was my biological father and all I know is my parents were married 14 years with no children.  They went to Mildura where they met Albert through business.  I was born in 1951 and totally unaware that my DNA would indicate Albert was my father.

In 1926 Albert was a Soldier Settler in Red Cliffs near Mildura. He was married and had two little girls. His grape growing enterprise on the block he had been allocated was not going to make his fortune so he soon branched out.  By 1926 he was concentrating on the commercial packaging, marketing and agency side of the grape growing industry. 1926 was the first full, uninterrupted, commercial harvest season.  He started up the Red Sun Packing Shed which processed and distributed the region’s dried vine fruits.  He also diversified as a real estate agent and auctioneer, ran for positions on dried fruit boards and became involved in local community activities such as setting up swimming clubs and regional sports.

What did our people’s ordinary days actually look like and where, within the routine, did something like magnificence quietly live?

I see hard work and suffering in this snapshot of life in 1926.  Reuben, who tried to make a living transporting fish, fruit and vegetables to inland towns, Christina, who died a miserable death without the advantages of modern medicine, Walter, who helped build the trains for the state of Victoria, Myrtle, who crafted beautiful dresses while her private life was in chaos, Elsa, who survived the tremendous upheaval in her young life and began to enjoy a new beginning, Ella, who worked hard from dawn until dusk on a lonely cattle station, Linden, who threw away opportunities but played his part working on his employer’s property and finally Albert, the WWI veteran, who grasped opportunity with both hands and became a successful businessman.

T for Travelling Onwards

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The Sydney Harbour Cruise had been planned for six months, well before my diagnosis, so I had wondered if I would actually make it.  My granddaughter Cordelia* was having a birthday the day before and I was keen to give her the bracelet and book of stories on the actual day so it combined nicely with our other plans.

Fortunately, I felt better on Thursday, March 12 than I had previously so I was excited at the prospect of staying in a hotel, eating out, meeting up with family and going on a harbour cruise with friends.  I had waited a long time to escape from my prison so when the Uber arrived at my front door I couldn’t believe it was really happening. As a precaution on the train I wore my super-efficient mask which was suffocating to say the least. The hour and a half train trip flew by, we changed at Central for Town Hall and then wheeled our luggage to Rydges, Darling Square.

The room was ready so we gratefully dropped off our bags and examined the view.  It was of a plain, walled courtyard with a table and two chairs, not over inviting but very private.

After coffee and chicken burritos at a nearby cafe we began a long walk to Darling Harbour.  The area has changed so much over the last few years with new high-rise buildings promising expensive accommodation for the lucky ones.  My legs were protesting trying to keep up with John.

A rest and nap back in the room was essential, followed by a shower and dressing for dinner. We decided to walk again so my legs have really had a workout. It was about 1.5 kilometres down Sussex Street and then along the waterfront before we reached the Lotus restaurant.

Juliet and Sebastian arrived first, followed by Duncan*, Juliet’s husband, who, because he had a cold, sat at the other end of the table from me. Cordelia was late from her drama class but arrived in time to open her present before the food arrived. The instructions were as follows.

  1. Open the card
  2. Open the large parcel
  3. Open the small parcel
  4. Continue the tradition

Juliet promised to keep watch over the bracelet and Cordelia eagerly scanned the book, promising to read it properly later.  The meal was a banquet so no thinking was required and it was quite delicious. Feeling decadent I ordered a mocktail which was small and expensive but what did it matter.  I was free!

Enjoying a mocktail wearing a wig

Always ready for a new experience I followed the others next door to Yo Chi where the formula is to choose ice cream and toppings (fresh fruit and/or lollies) and then have whole thing weighed.  In the interests of economy and good health, John and I shared a dish. We were surprised to hear Cordelia and Sebastian singing a song together at the piano.  Apparently on Thursday anyone who is brave enough to sing for their icecream gets it for free!

As we strolled to the Barangaroo Metro Station we passed an amazing sight.  Rows of people were lying on mattresses watching an outdoor movie. It was the premises of “Move’in Bed”.

Set on 280 tonnes of pristine white sand, this one‑of‑a‑kind event lets you watch hit movies from the cosy comfort of 150 cloud‑like queen-sized beds, all positioned in front of Australia’s largest outdoor cinema screen.

It was my first trip on the new Metro but after only two stops we bid farewell to the family and left the train at Gadigal.  A short walk and we were back at the hotel.  So far so good.  Everything was running like clockwork and I was tired but feeling almost normal.

  • Not his real name

Q for Questions About the Future

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As Time Goes By

Sung by my favourite singer, Rudy Vallee 1931

You must remember this
A kiss is still a kiss
A sigh is just a sigh
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by

And when two lovers woo, they still say, “I love you”
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings
As time goes by

It is the 25th August, 1933 and it is my 16th birthday.  My name is Elsa May Hall although my birth certificate says Elsie Mary Hall.  The woman who registered my name made a mistake with my middle name and I don’t like Elsie.  Elsa is much more grown up.

This is me when I was younger. I can’t find any recent photos.

My mother gave me a gold bracelet for my 16th birthday.  She wants to start a family tradition of passing it down to the firstborn girl in each generation of the family.  I wonder will I have a daughter to give it to?  I find it a bit unusual as it has her hair plaited inside it.  Apparently, some admirer of hers gave it to her but she didn’t marry him.  When she was 20 she ran away with a much older man (my father) and they were married in Melbourne. I was born in 1917 in a little railway cottage in Williamstown.  My mother was very sick afterwards and nearly died.  I started school in Williamstown when I was six so I was much older than the other children.  I was only at the school a short while when my mother said, “We are leaving on a train to go to Sydney today.” I didn’t ever see my father again.

Mother rented a house in Glebe and I started school at Forest Lodge.  I was happy there, as I made one very close friend called Ruth.  My favourite thing to do when I got home from school was to ride my scooter down the gently sloping path in Jubilee Park.  Ruth told me I was too old to ride a scooter but I loved the feeling of speed and the wind in my hair. I remember one day when I was in sixth class rushing in the front door, telling my mother excitedly about my promotion in the netball team.  She told me to sit down and listen.  She said that times were hard and dressmaking jobs were scarce so we were moving to Queensland.  She had a job at a cattle station as a housekeeper and cook so there would be food, accommodation and some money as well.  I didn’t realise that the cattle station was a long way from the nearest town of Charleville.  Nor did I realise the nearest high school was in Roma, hundreds of miles away.

It took several days to travel to Roma by train.  Instead of going to the cattle station, Mother took me to a hostel for students whose homes were a long way from the school.  I hated it.  I didn’t make friends and the food was awful.  I started school at Roma High School but was very unhappy.  In fact, I thought about running away but where would I go? I sent so many letters to Mother she must have realised that something needed to be done.  One weekend she arrived and took me to a house near the school.  The owner had a spare bedroom and said she would treat me like her own daughter.  At least now I had my own room but I didn’t like the woman at all.  She would make notes if I did anything to displease her and then she would send letters to my mother.  She also expected me to do housework the minute I got home from school and I didn’t think that was part of the agreement so we argued a lot.

It all came to an end when I made a friend.  Like me, he was an outsider.  His parents were Greek and ran the local fish and chip shop. We would walk home from school together and one day the snoopy landlady saw us.  Of course, she wrote to Mother straight away and said I was “boy mad”.  Mother arrived next weekend and decided that as I was almost 15, it was time to leave school and start dressmaking.

I thought I might be living with Mother at the station but a letter arrived to say my father had died and his sister (my aunt) was offering me accommodation while I did my training as a dressmaker.  Before I knew it, I was travelling by train to Williamstown, which I had left nearly ten years earlier.

I am now working at Lucy Secors.  It is a dressmaking firm which employs hundreds of girls, training them from the ground up.  I spend two or three months perfecting each part of a garment.  Starting with seams I progressed to collars and then to sleeves and buttonholes.  It is all very boring.  My aunt and uncle are quiet people, and my cousin is not at all exciting.  

1927 advertisement in “The Home” magazine for Lucy Secor from Circa Vintage Clothing Archive 4th June 2015

So here I am.  Everyone expects me to work my way up through the ranks at Lucy Secors until I become a manager or get married.  I have a good mind to pack it in at the end of the year and go back up to Queensland.  Maybe I can get a job dressmaking with what I have learnt. What does my future hold? I hope it’s a bit more exciting than my life has been so far.  Things have got to get better.

P for Plaiting a lock of my long fair hair

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When You Were  Sweet Sixteen

I love you as I never lov’d before,

Since first I met you on the village green

Come to me, or my dream of love is o’er.

I love you as I lov’d you

When you were sweet, when you were sweet sixteen.

Written by James Thornton 1896 

It is August the 8th, 1913 and I have just turned 16.  My name is Myrtle May Lock but everyone calls me Tillie because I hate my name.  I have a sister called Ruby (she hates her name too) who is 12, a brother called Charles (known as Charlie) aged 10 and a little brother called Claude, aged 7. Claude fell off the bed on his head when he was a baby and has never been quite right since.  He is always sick and misses so much school.  As a result, I missed a lot of school too, looking after him as Mother is often unwell.  I left as soon as I could at the age of 13 so did not ever go to high school.

Father said I had to have a trade as I should not have to depend on the family or a husband to provide for me.  I had the choice of dressmaking or millinery.  I decided that dresses were more important than hats and liked the idea of working with clean, soft material instead of my parent’s job running a smelly fish shop. At least Father now sells second hand goods and Mother can rest a bit more.

As the oldest in the family, I am always expected to do most of the work.   My sister Ruby avoids it when possible and is very demanding. When Father bought a cow everyone wanted to learn to milk it.  Everyone but me.  I knew that when the novelty wore off, I would be the one getting up early in the morning to milk the cow. I can’t avoid the weekly silver polishing, however.  Every Saturday morning, we four children must sit at the table and polish all the cutlery, the teapot, coffee pot, sugar bowl and milk jug.  When I have my own home, I’m not having anything made of silver.  Why make work for yourself?

As it is I work long hours five days a week at the dressmakers, measuring the ladies and drafting patterns for their gowns. I do most of the stitching by hand although we have a Singer treadle sewing machine for making linings in some of the dresses. We receive copies of the latest European fashions in magazines like “Gazette du Bon Ton” from France and “Harpers Monthly” from America.

That reminds me.  I was reading a magazine a few days ago and it went into great detail about the “unsinkable ship”, the Titanic, which hit an iceberg travelling from England to America. Over a thousand people drowned.  I have decided I am never going on a ship, ever.

Have you seen my birthday present?  Oh, I know I received the usual handkerchiefs, combs and linen for my glory box but wait until you see what else I have.  

I have an admirer!  He is much older than me and isn’t all that good looking, but he is very kind and has a lovely big house.  My father doesn’t approve of him so all I will say is that his initials are S.B. He asked for a lock of my hair!  In fact, he said, “Please may I have a lock from Miss Lock”.  I didn’t know what he was going to do with it but I snipped a long strand for him to take away with him.  Today he presented me with a blue velvet box.  I opened it carefully and inside was a gold bracelet!  It looked as though some plaited leather was threaded through the gold but it turns out, it was my hair.  On the inside is inscribed “From S.E.B. 9-8-13” and on the outside, in a gold shield, are my initials, MML. I shall wear it all the time.

I think my father thinks if I leave home and marry S.B there will be no one to help my mother but then it will be Ruby’s turn.  It’s time she did her share!

Father has stopped me from doing many exciting things.  Just recently a new photographic shop opened in the main street of Stawell.  I was looking at the pictures in the window when the owner came outside and asked if I would like to have my photograph taken.  He said he would put it in the front window to show people what he could do.  I had to wrap a sheet around my shoulders and let my hair down to my waist.  You should have heard the gossips when my photograph appeared in the window. The photographer told me a week or so later that a friend from Melbourne had seen the picture and thought I should try out to be a model for the big department store Myer. My father said no way would he let me go and model in Melbourne so I am doomed to spend my life in Stawell sewing dresses for wealthy ladies who seem to have a lot more fun than I do.

I wonder what the future holds?   Will I marry S.E.B.?  Will I leave Stawell and live somewhere more exciting, like Melbourne?  Will I have children and grandchildren? Will I be happy? Only time will tell.

O for Occupying Myself During Treatment

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The New Zealand actor, Sam Neill, wrote his memoir “Did I Ever Tell You This” while steroids kept him awake at night. He was diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare, aggressive type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He is currently in remission but with infusions every two weeks to keep it at bay. His memoir is not about cancer as that is something he wants to put at the back of his mind. Such an inspiration and role model!

It would be good if I could say I learnt a new skill or wrote the great novel during my self-enforced hibernation.

The piano lay untouched when I could have been practising.  The Swedish Death Cleaning which I so enthusiastically started, lapsed into apathy. My days followed a regular rhythm of meal prep, cleaning up and washing and drying clothes.  The rest of the time was spent reading or listening to audio books.  I attempted to complete Sudokus, enjoyed Wordle and Quordle and Octordle. Pilfer had me playing against the computer and winning (on level 1). Watching TV took place mainly in the evenings and occasionally at lunchtime, when I enjoyed Escaping to the Country and drooling over beautiful houses.  The summer drifted by, largely spent indoors with the air conditioning on.

Writing my daily journal was a ritual before bed each night, listing my side effects and comparing them with the previous cycle. Not exactly a memoir!

There was something I needed to complete before March as my granddaughter’s 16th birthday was approaching.  It is a family tradition to pass on to the next generation a gold bracelet belonging to my grandmother.  She had been given the bracelet when she turned 16, in 1913.  She gave it to my mother when she turned 16.  In turn it was passed on to me at the same age.  When my daughter’s turn came she asked if I would look after it as she went travelling all over the world. It was still in my care as the time came again to pass it on to the next generation.

The owner of the bracelet, Myrtle May Lock

I came up with a plan to write a series of stories called “When I was 16”, showing how life has changed for teenagers over the past hundred years.  I was fortunate to have some lovely photographs of my grandmother around that age but only younger ones of my mother so that would have to do.  I looked back to my own life at 16 and asked my daughter to write about her life at that time as well.  There was such a contrast in the lives of the four women in the stories.  For my granddaughter the significance of the bracelet would be multiplied by the stories of its owners.

In the next post you will go back in time to 1913 and find out the origin of the gold bracelet.

K for Kindness

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When people hear that someone has cancer they are often unsure what to do and say.  I wasn’t expecting to hear from anyone except for my family but even in my short time in hospital I had an unexpected visit from a friend who brought some mandarins and lots of good cheer.

It wasn’t long before friends from the General Bewilderment Lane (that’s what we originally called our Aqua Fit group when we were Aqua Joggers) were calling to see when they could visit.  I was very aware of my low immunity so we agreed on no hugs and even masks on the first few occasions. A knock at my front door one day revealed flowers and soaps from the thoughtful Aqua Joggers.

They arrived in pairs with coffee from Mo at Praha, the coffee shop at the uni pool.  He had made it just how I like it. They helped us put the cover on the caravan and move it to its parking space in the back yard.  After all, it wasn’t going to be used for a while.

More Aqua Joggers arrived, armed with take away coffee and muffins, but when I worked out my good days I started making coffee for them with my new coffee machine.  It is a Breville Barista Pro, replacing my old one which was due for retirement. Another “Why Not?” purchase.

One couple brought us a chicken pie to save on cooking.  This was most welcome as my main motivation when cooking is hunger and my appetite had gone.

Out of the blue another group, my daughter’s Book Club, donated Dinner Ladies’ meals to save on cooking.  

My daughter had also arranged for John to order some Light and Easy meals.  My Hello Fresh subscription supplied three meals a week which still had to be prepared and cooked but required very little thinking. It looked like we weren’t going to starve and I found once the food was in front of me, I could eat it and maintain my weight.

One friend remained quiet for a few weeks. Then I received a message from her asking when we were going out for lunch.  It seems she deleted her emails and missed my message about my health crisis.  As soon as she found out I had cancer she came over to our house, laden with flowers and rich little cakes from Massimos. 

Emails, phonecalls and texts kept me in touch with the outside world.  One friend wanted to know all the details of my diagnosis and treatment which gave me free reign to vent.

When I finally returned to Aqua Fit four weeks after my final chemo it was wonderful to catch up with people who had been so kind during my self-imposed isolation. As John and I were having birthdays in April one lovely Aqua Jogger made us a cake which we shared over coffee.

Christmas occurred in the middle of my treatment.  My children and grandchildren arrived with promises that I was to sit and watch and do nothing.  It was the easiest Christmas I have ever had although I did manage to prepare a trifle in advance and a “do it yourself” prawn cocktail where everyone peeled their own prawns and added lettuce, avocado, mango and homemade sauce. Best of all, the cleaning up was not my responsibility.  Instead, I spent a blissful afternoon resting on my bed underneath the fan.

As someone who values independence above all things and is a bit of a loner, it was strange and touching to have so much attention from others. It shows the importance of belonging to groups and has motivated me to help others in a similar situation when and where I can.

E for Eating Hello Fresh

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The unreality continues.  One moment everything is normal and then I remember.  This morning I stayed in bed until after 8 am and then filled in time until 10.45 am when we left for the Wollongong Private Hospital which is situated not far from Wollongong Public Hospital.  I took the lift to the 7th floor and was shown to a room with a green recliner chair, a TV and a view across to the Five Islands.

A cannula was inserted with a drip of radioactive glucose and I was left for an hour.  I chose to read the Mushroom Murders from chapter 4 onwards where the preliminary cases for the prosecution and defence were presented.  The book went on to describe Erin’s early life and off-again on-again marriage.  Needing a break from real life murder I swapped to my headphones and listened to my audio book, The Girl Under the Floor, by Charlie Gallagher.  Here, Detective Maddie Ives tries to solve equally puzzling mysteries but at least it is only fiction.  The hour went fast.  A nurse directed me to another room where the PET scan machine sat waiting to decide my fate.  Any cancer cells will radiate a glow. The machine moved me in and out of a high white tunnel for about half an hour but I didn’t feel claustrophobic as I’m an old hand at these things now.

Thankfully I devoured the sandwiches they gave me, had my intravenous cannula removed and went back down to the real world outside which was warm and windy.  

John drove to meet me as I walked down the hill towards Beaton Park.  It was so good to be free and I needed some exercise.  Once home John made me a good coffee and I ate too much panettone.  

This afternoon I just relaxed until evening drinks of tonic water with ice and lemon which I enjoyed.  I don’t really miss wine as the need to help my liver through this crisis is more important.

Next Day

I rang the hospital to see if it was OK to do a blood test the day after a radioactive PET scan.  They gave me the all-clear so John dropped me off at 11 o’clock and I found my way to Pathology.  The room was crowded with mainly elderly people climbing awkwardly into large chairs to have their blood taken.  The nurse had no trouble finding a vein and soon I was out of there.  John had parked at Beaton Park so again I walked down the hill to meet him.  

The Hello Fresh Box arrived today with three meals inside.  Tonight’s meal was quite tasty with fresh barramundi and vegetables. The instructions said to eat first.  As well there is a prawn dish we will have to eat tomorrow.  At least I don’t have to think with Hello Fresh.  Instructions and ingredients are all there.  I just have to chop and cook and sometimes I can listen to an audio book at the same time. My daughter started using Hello Fresh when she was juggling work and children and encouraged me to try it. Now I am so grateful to have it as a back up.

Next day

Another day of hospital visits. Again, it was my turn to go to Wollongong Private. The nurse was very friendly and chatty and so was the doctor. I had three anaesthetic injections and then four biopsies taken from a lymph gland under my arm.  It didn’t hurt at all. I wish I was having the mammogram there but that will be over the road at Wollongong Public.

On the way home I bought four tickets online for The Shiralee. We will be teen sitting next week so a trip to the Opera House will be something the grandchildren will remember they did with Nanna.  The play, The Shiralee, is based on the book by D’Arcy Niland about a swagman called Macauley and his young daughter, Buster, whom he takes on the road.  My father used to call me his Shiralee, although we travelled in the relative comfort of a truck all over country New South Wales.

A for Appalling News

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On the 13th October, 2025, I wrote a brief note in my journal. “My back pain is getting worse so have booked an MRI at Shellharbour tomorrow.” I had experienced sciatica type pain so asked my GP for a referral for an MRI thinking it would be useful before going to a physiotherapist.

The next day John drove me out to Shellharbour, where I underwent an MRI, which stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging.  At first I was too nervous to open my eyes inside the tubular scanner in case I felt claustrophobic, so kept them tightly shut.  The tinny music tried unsuccessfully to drown out the bangs and rattles of the machine so that my fears became mere frustration at the quality of the headphones.   After a ten-minute wait I was told I would have a cannula inserted to inject contrast dye and go through it all again.  Stepping out into the sunshine afterwards was wonderful. We drove off to nearby Shell Cove for a poke bowl lunch, gazing across the water at the boats in the new marina, not a care in the world.

As we were driving home my phone rang.  It was the doctors’ surgery.  My GP wanted to see me at 4.15pm that afternoon.  I started to worry that something was seriously wrong because otherwise why did she want to see me so soon?

She came out straight away with, “I’m afraid it’s not good news”.

She told me I have a lesion on my spine.  That is what is causing the pain as it is pressing on nerves.  What is more concerning than that is she thinks it is a secondary, so I have a cancer somewhere else.  The way she was talking I’m going to be in serious trouble. She thought we should get the family together.  John teared up a bit but I felt strangely calm. I’ve had a good life with a rewarding job, happy marriage, children and grandchildren but I’m not ready to give up yet.  At 74 years of age I feet fit and healthy, apart from a niggling back pain so I am ready to fight whatever it is that dares to invade my body.

Reflections

lindamaycurry15 Comments

I can’t write the Reflections post without telling you what happened next.

I first met Will seven months after his return to Australia. He was not teaching in a one teacher school in Western Division but to his mind the Education Department was still run by despotic, authoritarian and twisted minds as he had been appointed to his hometown of Wollongong. He was living with his parents while he saved some money for his own place. If you want to find out more about Will (from a different point of view) you could check out my 2018 A to Z Living in the ‘70s.  

Meanwhile Phil could not believe it when he was again posted to a remote small school. The only light on the horizon was Beth, who was flying to Australia to join him at Christmas.  I met them several times before they returned to England.

As you will know if you read this blog, Keith married “Miss Port Albernie”.  A couple of years later they arrived in Sydney, but the pull of home and family was too strong and they relocated to Vancouver.

Now the “Green Seals” have all turned 80 and can’t believe where the years went.  Will and Phil became School Principals, while Keith left teaching and became a Town Planner.  They (and their wives) all now reside in Sydney and Wollongong, Australia.

Will begged me to write about the demise of the “Fairsea”.  That is a story that needs a whole post.  Maybe in the 2026 A to Z?

Now for Reflections.  

  • Did you finish the challenge? Yes, before it started but still needed to do a lot of editing during the month of April.
  • What was your favourite post to write? I liked writing the early ones (A,B,C,D) on the ship and arriving in London.  I also liked the last one Z for Zigzagging back to Australia.
  • What was your favourite comment posted by another A-Z participant on your blog this April? Again, Josna wrote the most detailed and elaborate comments as she genuinely seemed to relate to much of the content.

Feeling quite sad as this adventure is drawing to an end. So many points of connection for me! To go out rambling over Hampstead Heath and to use their public swimming ponds was a such a gift for my mother and her brothers in their youth, as working-class kids. Love the film and the song “To Sir With Love;” before I was born my mother was briefly a supply teacher in London’s East End. I loved the photo of all the children about to take the barge on Regent’s Canal to the Zoo. I remember The Scaffold’s” Lily the Pink” was a hit while I was in London in 1969, and my mother saw Paul McCartney crossing the street in front of her bus as it went through St. John’s Wood. What a great reference? I hope they appreciated him at his next job in NSW. One of my old schoolmates taught, then became a school principal, and then headed up the education department in NSW. I wonder if they know each other? Really admire the fact that “Will” arranged a working holiday and not only supported himself but did useful work while having a whale of a time.

  • Did you feel supported by the A-Z team? (The Team: Arlee Bird, J Lenni Dorner, Zalka Csenge Virág, John Holton, Jayden R Vincente, and Ronel Janse van Vuuren.) They are legends the way they work behind the scenes to make the A to Z possible.  It is one of the highlights of my year and I would be sad if it didn’t happen. Some also visited and commented on my blog.
  • Did you like the graphics for this year? I love the colours and designs.  They really livened up my posts.
  • Did you like the A-Z blog’s theme? Being grateful for our blogging community does not directly relate to what I wrote but Will and Phil’s list of What is Happiness comes close.
  • Did you have a theme on your blog? If so, how did you come up with it? When I met Will he regaled me with the stories you have read in this A to Z.  For years I felt they should be recorded for future generations so here they are.
  • Did you learn anything new because of the A-Z Challenge? I learnt that dictating aerograms into Word was much easier than transcribing them.
  • Will you consider doing the challenge again next year? I’m tossing around a few thoughts.  Doing A to Z’s in my head helps me fall asleep at night.

These are the links to each post in this year’s A to Z

The Swinging Sixties Theme Reveal. 

A for Across the Seas.   

B for Bargaining in Singapore.   

C for Camels in Cairo.  

D for Dear Old England.  

E for England Swings Like a Pendulum Do.   

F for Finding Work Moving Furniture.   

G for Getting Older (turning 22).   

H for Hammering Across the Thames.   

I for Impressions of Ireland.   

J for Jaunt to Paris.  

K for Knocking on the Kremlin’s Door.   

L for Living Life in London and Abroad.   

M for Merry White Christmas.   

N for New Year and New Plans.   

O for Opportunistic Scum.   

P for Postcards from Venice and Other Places.   

Q for the Question “Is it true?”    

R for Rhythm of Life.  

S for Summer Holiday.   

T for Telephoning Home.  

U for Under the Mistletoe.   

V for Very Bad Tax News.   

W for Isle of Wight.   

X for Planning an eXit.   

Y for Young and Free.   

Z for Zigzagging back to Australia.   

I tried to follow more new blogs this year but many of these are old favourites.

 Tales From My Japanese Travels

 Informal Focus on Writing

 The Earl Grey Irish Orphan Challenge

 A to Z of Empathy

 Personal Musings

 Airports, Airstrips, Aircraft, and Airlines

 Personal Responses to Books

26 People in My Family Tree

  Bamford ad Heaney Families

 Weaverton Characters

Thank you to all those who read and commented on my topic “The Swinging Sixties”. I tried to comment on as many blogs as I could. Sometimes the comments just vanished or appeared as Anonymous. I will aim to visit everyone I’ve missed on the Road Trip. Hope to see you all again in April 2026!

REFLECTIONS

lindamaycurry11 Comments

  • Did you win?

Yes! I think this year was the easiest because I used something I had already written in an A to Z format  so it was an easy matter to set it up before April and go enjoy my cruise. It also allowed me to follow other bloggers as my little luxury on the cruise was good quality internet.

  • Do you believe your blog saw an increase in traffic and comments during April 2024?

I usually only publish in April so there was a huge increase in traffic compared to other months

  • Do you feel the A to Z Team (Arlee Bird, J Lenni Dorner, Zalka Csenge Virág, John Holton, Jayden R Vincente, and Ronel) supported you, your blog, and this challenge enough in 2024?

As usual the team put in an enormous amount of work to make this annual challenge work.  I can’t thank them enough.

  • Will you do the challenge again next year?

I’ve already started

Yes, used the letters A to Z and the banners

  • Is the HTML useful to you? 

Didn’t use it successfully but have done in the past.

  • Any suggestions for the team?

As another blogger suggested maybe there is some way to help bloggers who aren’t getting any comments.  We could volunteer to comment on those blogs getting a low volume of traffic.

  • Any thanks? Again, thanks to all the team and all the people who read and commented on my story.
  • Any post ideas or requests for our monthly posts on the blog from June to February?

I can only handle April and its aftermath at this stage.

  • Have you followed the social media of the A to Z Challenge? No
  • What was your favourite comment left by another A to Z participant on your blog during the challenge? 🏆

There were so many excellent comments but here is one of many I enjoyed.  I would love to know how your grandchildren reacted along the way, and whether their comments and questions were anything like ours. Well done! I really enjoyed following your writing again this year, and am in awe of your discipline and organization in getting the chapters lined up to post in advance while you cruised the high seas. Thank you for your thoughtful comments on my posts and here’s to the year! Josna

  • Did any other A to Z participant make you and your blog feel especially valued this year?

All the people who commented please know I appreciate your efforts and if I list you I am sure to miss someone. 

  • Do you have a favourite blog that you found during the challenge this year?

Life at 82 by Lois Roelofs showed me what to expect in the next ten years and Brizzy Mays Aussie Trivia is good fun. Tell Me Another by Josna is always thought provoking and Anne Young’s research is awe inspiring.  Then there is JB Insalaco’s DNA Insights that had me checking my own results again. So many others but I must finish Reflections or it will not get posted.  It’s taking me ages. Sorry all those others….

  • Do you feel you had a positive impact on the Blogging Community during the hop?

I tried to comment on as many posts as I could so imagine that helped.

  • Did you invite or encourage any other bloggers to join the challenge?

No one I know wants to write one as they are too busy.

  • Have you learned anything because of the #AtoZChallenge? 

I’m learning new stuff all the time reading other people’s posts and researching my own.

  • Did you use a theme in 2024? Any thoughts on themes? 

I don’t usually take much notice of the theme – I just go with whatever motivates me at the time.

  • Was taking part in the challenge a positive experience for you and your blog?

I love the communication with others about their blogs and mine.

  • Consider the significance of the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge, our values (community and inclusion), and your feelings about the experience. How may this influence your future blogging, learning, or actions?

It makes me want to continue with A to Z as long as I still have ideas in my head and can use a computer. I love the fact that the writers and readers are from all over the world and yet all feel part of a community of people who like to write.

  • Any other thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the #AtoZChallenge 2024?

It is a special time of the year I look forward to but I could only do it once a year as I intend to spend the rest of the year preparing for it.

  • Will you consider doing the challenge again next year?

I’m already busy typing up old letters and aerograms which will form the basis of next year’s blog.  Many of my blogs look into the past and this one will be set in the 1960s. It was a time without internet when phone calls were expensive and people wrote huge numbers of letters especially when they crossed the world. What a treasure to be unearthed of how things were almost 70 years ago!