To Julie,

To Julie,
Love and friendship endureth

Beyond the thousand miles
beyond the span of years
I carry you, always, in my heart.
You were my friend then
and my friend now.
If we sit – we reminisce
snapshots of laughter, black and whites that take us back.
Remember when’s,
of parties, work incidents and accidents,
colleagues shared, the netball games, played and
umpired. The triumphs, the great moments.
We gloss over the hard times
when each supported the other
through family tiffs and tatts
through losses and bad days.
Just as we both do now.
Our lost children are not gone from us,
though dead and underground.
We carry them in our hearts.
We loved them then as we love them now
if not more.
For in our reminisces – our ‘remember when’s’
they are not shaded with the bad days .
But coloured with all the brightness of lives lived
short.
And when we meet again,
Two mothers whose children are underground
We will smile, again, our wonky smiles
Put on, again, some brightness, some lighntess
and reminisce of days gone by
and even if one of us offers the space
we will share our loss and pain,
but not TOO much.
For we both know
as much as we have this common grief
our pain is too great
For another to ever have to share.

Orphan schools

Orphans by Thomas Kennington (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Within a few short years of white settlement of Australia 398 out 958 children were neglected and/or in need of care. Initially Orphan Schools were established to look after these children. Church schools were to later take over the role, and continued, for the next few centuries, caring not only for the orphaned and those at risk but also migrant war children and children of mixed colour.

This poem is for my mother who was to spend years in a church home.

 

Orphan Schools  

You did not know, they started the orphan schools for the likes of you,

Children whose mother could or would not care for them.

You did not know that barely five years after our colonies birth

The children of convict mothers ran the streets unloved, unwashed, unfed.

You did not know that they only thought to feed them, house them fit for work.

Gov. Phillip Gidley King :  Immediate steps (must be) taken to save the youth of this colony from the destructive examples of their abandoned parents and others they unavoidably associate with.

 

You did not know that for some of them the Homes were better than life on the streets.

You did not know when you stood in the gutters, your father’s furniture around your feet,

That your mother could not or would not care for you. You did not know.

You did not know that when the Governor’s job in looking after ‘currency’ children became too great the church stepped in.

Elizabeth Paterson: (They) are to be entirely secluded from other people and brought up in the habit of religion and morality.

 

You were not generations meant for lifting out of gutters, for fitting for society

But generations meant for work – domestic or industrial.

Children spared from guttersnipes and prostitutes and thievery.

You did not know that centuries had passed and still there was a need.

You did not know a mother’s love, a caring touch, a kind word.

But when you became my mother you vowed it would never happen again.

Life is What happens When You’re Busy….

Well the best laid plans…. can go more wrong than you ever thought! This weekend I hoped to take CP (Couch Potato, for more info see my last post) looking at Apollo Motorhomes. I still haven’t got over the dream of motoring through our great country, Australia, for my 60th. The idea of an Apollo Motorhome dream Holiday still weighs heavily on my shoulders.

 

Unfortunately, so do family commitments. Instead of spending this weekend checking out the Euro Tourers, I spent it in Sydney visiting my sick mum who came down with a severe case of pneumonia. The woman, who has been a rock, thoroughly independent, and as tough as iron has suddenly had to face her own vulnerability. ” I feel quite frail,” is how she expressed it. I could only stay the weekend but I hope I have cooked, washed and ironed everything she will need for the nest few weeks of recovery!!

For me the biggest thing the weekend brought was the realization of how important all our relationships are. When I left my husband some fifteen years ago I lost relatives and family of some 20  years standing. It was because of my son that I sought to rebuild this bridge, reunite us. And it was a great decision.

This weekend I took the steps that brought my brothers ex-wife back to the fold. Why is that a divorce alienates those who need us most? Family may not be everything, but it represents the best AND worst part of us. The parts that show our ability to be understanding, loving and forgiving. And above all shows our ability to love unconditionally.

If there is anyone you need to forgive – do it now, if not for them, then for yourself.

Having said that this did not help me sleep easily – in fact it was one of those bad nights of soul-searching (fortunately followed by a great night).

Sleep well on your good works!