Now I thank everybody for coming here. I really appreciate it. I spoke to one of my sisters today and she said keep it short. So here goes.
I’m going back to 1956. 70
years ago. In Melbourne, 1956 was a big year. Three big things happened. In August TV came. In October we had the Olympic
games.
On the 24.9.56 in a hospital
in East Melbourne near the Fitzroy Gardens and Captain Cooks Cottage mum
decided to do what mum’s do. Then when mum was feeding me melon juice, I heard
a rumbling noise.
I said to Mum: What is that noise?
She said they are building a
stadium over there.
And I said: What is that for?
She said the Olympic Games.
I said can I go?
Anyway, my dad went to the
Olympic Games and he raved about Kutz who won the 5 and 10 kays. He was a
Russian runner who went to the front and pulled the field apart. My research
tells me he came from the Ukraine.
Dad said, we went to the
athletics and we sent the ladies to the closing ceremony and the basketball. And
mum took me with her and I enjoyed the Olympic games so much I went to sleep
and filled my nappy.
As for the Basketball. Lyndsey
Kline the famous basketball coach played in the AFL game. It was a demonstration
sport.
The MCG was my dad’s and my happy
place. We loved going there. I have so many happy memories of the MCG. My biggest
memories are the 1970 grand final and the bowling of Lillee and Thompson. They
were fast.
I then
went to Melb Uni which changed my life.
And then after that South
Africa which definitely changed my life.
I worked in Soweto for a year.
In Soweto I saw a lot of people more intelligent, harder working, more caring
than me who lived in a one room shack with ten other people. I was incredibly
lucky.
Anyway, I worked in Soweto for
a year, pulling out a lot of teeth, and I thought I am going to have to do some
proper dentistry and I got a job In Natal.
My first nurse said to me: You
should meet my sister. She is really good looking. I saw things differently from Debbie.
What I was subconsciously looking
for was someone who knew how to look after my kids. I saw someone who was good
with the young kids and I saw someone who was kind to her maid. That impressed
me.
Years later, one day, I looked
down into the crib. I thought I want you have a happy, healthy successful life.
I looked at my daughter and I said to her. I know a place where you can have a
better life and you won’t have to worry about some of the troubles here. I am
lucky. I can go there. You can go there.
So, we came to Australia. I
felt like an immigrant. I remember going to the supermarket walking the aisles.
Stunned at the food here. I couldn’t believe it. Wow amazing.
I eventually started my
practice here in Collins Street Hobart.
One of my siters told me my grandmother
was born in Collins Street. I did some research and found out Florence Solomon was
born above her father’s shop. He was a tailor. After a few years he moved to
Cygnet. He had a tailor’s shop. My grandmother did all her schooling in Cygnet.
The tailor’s shop is now a cafe.
My other grandmother, Dolly, moved
to Queenstown when she was about three. Her father chopped down trees. One day
she sat on his axe. Which was a mistake. They had sharp axes. She had a great
big scare on her bottom.
In the year 2000 my dad’s
favourite sport watching moment occurred at the Sydney Paralympics. He was
sitting in the stand watching Melissa swim the 100m freestyle. The whole crowd
was roaring Carlton, Carlton, Carlton and he couldn’t believe it. My mother
rang me up and said your dad was happy.
I played at the New Town
Tennis courts with David Brown and they were good times. But unfortunately, in
2015, one Wednesday night, I played tennis, went home and went to bed. I woke up
two weeks later in the Royal Hobart Hospital. I thought bloody hell I’ve got to
get back to work. I bet the patients are building up and here I am lying
watching the TV. Doing nothing.
Jo came in, one day, and I
said to her I’ve got to go back to work and she said you are retired. And I
can’t remember what I said.
To be continued…
