Letters to Ann

Dear Ann,

I love Tuesdays as I have no commitments on that day & I can have a good sleep in if I feel like it. This is what I was looking forward to after the busy weekend at the Farmers Market & the drama with my flat tyre.

When I woke I could see it was a lovely day outside as the sun was trying to peep through the curtains, but I let my body relax in bed for another hour or so, as I felt I needed it. Dr. deMello, at the Akasha Clinic Philip took me to three years ago in LA, taught me well when he told me your body tells you things & you must learn to listen to what it is saying.

I have learnt to do this. I often just sit in my lounge chair & have a cat nap if I feel I need it, which is something I could never do when I was younger. I benefit from this greatly: acquaintances & friends continually tell me how well I look.

Charley was coming out on that particular Tuesday to make a supply of her mango chutney, but phoned to say something had cropped up & she wasn’t able to make it. In view of this I stayed in my comfy bed & didn’t get up until mid morning.

I had a very lazy morning until it came time for me to go up to Micheles for my lunch.

I inherited an awkward garage when moving to Lakelands & my only complaint would be that the garage is too small. It took me some practice to reverse out so that I don’t hit any walls; miss the garden bed; reverse up the rather steep driveway; & avoid hitting the metal fence at the top. There is not much room for failure either driving in or driving out.

I can’t have passengers in the car until I am out in the open. Likewise my shopping has to be placed on the driver’s side of the car to have easy access to it when I drive in.

When we moved here I planted about thirty shrubs around the garden. Over the years this grew to be a nice high hedge around the side & top of the garden facing the road. I liked the hedge, which gave a lot of privacy. During our very hot summer some garden bug attacked the hedge, which made it look very scraggy.

My gardener John & I conversed about this, deciding it would be advantageous to cut it all down to hip level & let it sprout up again good & healthy. I certainly miss my hedge, but feel it will be a good thing in the long run.

Quite often when reversing out of the garage I have turned the car a little too soon & driven up on the concrete ledge bordering the hedge, which has meant that sometimes I scraped greenery along the side of the car. I better add that I didn’t scratch the car in doing this as I would soft pedal.

On this particular Tuesday morning & feeling a little lazy I reversed onto the concrete ledge but with no hedge there I just put my foot down on the accelerator & reversed quickly up the drive. I heard a small scraping noise & when I stepped out of the car, to my sheer horror my car was okay, but completely without the front bumper bar!

I got such a shock & a lass walking down the drive also. We both stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds. On inspection the bumper bar had just the slightest bit of the corner around the stump of what was left of the hedge.

It was the straw that broke the camel’s back after my Sunday episode with the flat tyre & I was very close to tears.

The lass kindly picked it up & put it out of the way while I went inside to phone David. I knew he would not be pleased as he loves vehicles. To damage a vehicle does not in any way endear a Mother to her son!

When I told him what I had done the response was exactly what I expected. It went like this, “David I have just pulled the bumper bar off the front of my car.” I think his teeth were gritted when he replied very promptly to say, “Well then you had better take it to the smash repairs, hadn’t you?”

On occasions like this it isn’t the best time to remind him of all the smashes & cars written off during his teenage years! I felt bad enough as I loved this car as much as I loved the previous one.

I drove it a few streets away (near my home) to Williams Smash Repairs who know me well as being Newcastle’s Pudding Lady. David told me to ask for Kyle & tell him it would be a cash job.

After not having any financial problems two days prior with a flat tyre & broken electronic key ring I thought it was rather ironic that this should have happened. Kyle & Jackie (receptionist) saw me drive in & they were goodness itself, couldn’t do enough for me. Kyle told me I couldn’t drive it. Not because it wasn’t drivable, but because I could be pulled over by the police & charged for driving a vehicle which could harm a pedestrian if hit. Kyle said he was speaking from experience so I left the car with them.

They were in touch with David as he & Kyle & good friends. Both of them could not have helped me more. It was thought that it would be about a week for me to be without my vehicle & goodness knows how much it was going to cost me as Kyle didn’t inform me of the quote for the job.

God Bless him he used what he could of the bumper bar & to save time went & collected the parts himself rather than wait for them to be delivered. They did the job, calling me the very next day with it all complete & looking like nothing had happened to it. They also did the repairs at a much lesser cost than was usual.

I was so deeply grateful not only for this, but for their friendliness & kindness in doing the job so quickly. As they are very much aware of how good my Christmas puddings are, & certainly they were mentioned when I first arrived on their doorstep, the least I could do was to take one of each of the puddings around to them for morning tea or whatever they wanted to use them for.

They were happy to receive the cash payment with a bonus gift as well & I was more than grateful to have my car back so quickly.

It’s no wonder I thank my Maker for all my Blessings every night.

God Bless & Fondest Love. Dawn X O X O

Dear Ann,

After all my trouble with the car & everything that transpired on Sunday I had only one thing in mind on Monday morning & that was for a relaxed lunch with my long time friends, Judy & Pat. Ever since I was released from hospital three years ago, Judy, Pat & I have had a standard date to meet at Micheles Patisserie at 11.30 a.m. for lunch every Monday. Then we stay on for afternoon tea.

Even though Pat hadn’t been able to be with us for the past month, I was looking forward to being with Judy a little more than usual as its good to have friends to share things with. I don’t mean just negative things, but also the every day happenings & definitely all the good things.

The reason Pat couldn’t be with us recently is rather tragic. Four weeks ago I arrived at our venue when the staff informed me that Pat had been there moments before. She was ordering her lunch when they received an urgent phone call to inform Pat she was needed at home because her house was on fire.

Her husband, Colin, had delivered her there as usual & then gone on to a hardware store to purchase something & thankfully took their beloved dog with him.

Sue, Rachelle’s Mum, drove Pat home & stayed with her. The house was certainly well alight. The fire brigade & police were already there, as some one in the street had called them. Colin was also back there.

Judy, Dawn and Pat at a happier time – Dawn’s 88th Birthday.

Apparently, Colin had been welding in his workshop & a spark must have ignited. Someone managed to get the caravan out which was good as they loved their caravan & often went away camping.

It was a very sad morning & Judy & I could do nothing. Sue came back & said Pat had been trembling like a leaf when she took her home. Of course that did not get any better as reality set in.

The only thing left to Pat & Colin were the clothes they were wearing. It takes a few days for the loss to sink in. Judy & I tried everything to get in touch with her but to no avail.

We couldn’t raise any of the family by phone & the only contact I have had with Pat was three days after the fire when I went to my hairdresser in Boolaroo, an adjoining suburb. I have been getting my hair done there for over a decade at 10 a.m. every Thursday.

I happened to arrive there as Pat was leaving. She looked shocking and all I could do was put my arm around her & give her a hug. Even though she did not look good she was dressed nicely as family had taken them to buy some new clothes.

We would have no idea of what it must be like to lose everything you have in a home fire. Max & I had our Tupperware warehouse burned to the ground many years ago. Although it is a shock & a great loss it’s not personal.

The tragedies of fires, floods & thefts happen. It’s not easy to overcome the losses, paricularly when you are in your eighties. It’s not the time you want to be starting all over again.

I remember nearly two decades ago when we had our massive robbery & I lost so much that I treasured. A friend, David, had been doing jobs for me on the outside of the house for quite a long time & helped me as I felt that I would never get over it.

A few days after the robbery he sat with me on the front steps of our home & said something I will never forget & which helped me heal. He said ” Dawn you have to get over this, it’s sad to lose it all but it is only material possessions, no one has lost their life & that’s what you need to think of.”

Those words helped me tremendously as it’s true, nothing is as sad as losing loved ones.

Pat & Colin are not spring chickens anymore, Pat will be 82 in just over a week & Colin almost 86. I heard through my hairdresser, who is her daughter in law’s best friend, that Pat & Colin have been able to move into a rented home, which is much better than living in their caravan!

A month had transpired since Pat has joined Judy & I & both of us were hoping she would turn up that Monday morning, but it didn’t happen. We have had no word from her, which is a bit strange.

We sat through our lunch discussing what we could do for her birthday & foregoing afternoon teas. We didn’t feel like it which is the only time ever. The truth is we are very much missing our friend, Pat.

And we both know what that is like. Love you & God Bless, Dawn X O X O