Jean how lovely to think you have been been here with us and we didn't even know....
Which of the 'forgotten children' were you? There seemed so many from that time, the children from England who were never returned to their families, the aboriginal children who were taken from their families and totally ignored and the children who were put into homes because their fathers went to war and the mothers didn't want to be 'landed with a child' so deserted them...
I feel sure there were more. I had a friend many years ago whose mother dumped him in a home when his father went to war and she never returned to get him. It took long months before his father, upon returning from the war, finally found him.
I am always so aware of the children who missed out on the happy family vision...
You warm my heart that our memories give you some sort of happiness reading of them.
Of course the memories are also stilted in pain. My father returned from the Middle East an alcoholic, the war did dreadful things to the men who managed to survive.
My mother wanted more children, but he didn't. He didn't really like my presence that came between him and his wife.
They finally broke up and divorced. It was many years later that I found I could feel so sorry for him, but at the time as a child the rows and fights were dreadful and so although I had a happy childhood due to my mother's determination to keep me close, there was pain too.
I am sure your childhood must have been lonely and maybe much more that you cannot talk about, but please know we love to have you here.... it is a good feeling 🙂 xxxx
Very tired tonight folks, will tell you tomorrow... no buyers yet xx
Oh Jean, what a dreadful and shocking story... really the Australian Govt has so much to answer for... the horror you and your sister must have gone through would have been appalling, and as for your father's grief, fear and outrage... words fail me.
What on earth was wrong with people (IS wrong with people) that they think they have some power to intervene in a family's life unless the children are being abused.....
I know that over that same time children were adopted to families when the powers that be decided that the mother was not fit. Just after the child was born the mother was told it had died.
This happened to a friend of mine. She was desperated to find her mother, but when she did, the mother didn't believe her, she knew her baby had died.
There are no words to cover this dreadful crime, nothing can undo it, nothing can fix it and where you and your sister were concerned... a 'religious institution' God, that covered a multitude of sins.... and yes I do have some idea of them X-(
I remember the girls that were brought to Sunday School from one of those institutions and the sense of neglect that was hard to ignore - but at 12, it was hard to do anything about.
I am so glad you found your father before he died... Oh God, I ache for him...
Then we must build up some happy memories for you and try to give you what you missed out on 🙂
Let's see, who remembers Christmas? When grandfathers would put up the tree and let the kids help to decorate it...
One Christmas my cousin and I were allowed to go over to our grandparents house and help with the tree. My male cousin was ten at the time, I was about 12.
Ken was into tossing things into the air and catching them. He was told not to do it, but he continued. My grandfather tried to ignore him but it was hard when a flying glass was missed and landed on a brick that was supporting the tree and shattered.
My grandfather flew into a royal rage - which for some reason was not frightening, but we were thrown out of the house :^O
We thought it meant we had to go home.
Now, home was some way away. If you know Sydney at all, my grandparents lived in Cremorne and we lived in Wollstonecraft.
Ken had enough money on him to buy a bike puncture kit, and there was not way he was going to spend it on tram fares, so we decided we had better walk home.
It took us the better part of three hours and by that time everyone was demented by our absence.
We'd had a ball of course, walking and talking and seeing things we would not normally see...
The next day was Christmas and we all went back to the grandparents house where the tree sparkled, the roast chook dinner cooked by my grandmother smelled wonderful and the presents under the tree promised all sorts of goodies.
But I have never forgotten that glass flying through the air and knowing it spelt disaster :^O
