By Alice Richardson, 77. Elizabeth, SA The winter tree stands naked; exposed; vulnerable.  It remembers the beauty of spring; fragrant colourful blossoms, sparkling green leaves, the warmth of summer, the birds that nested amongst its foliage and the tiny fledgling’s insistent ‘hungry’ chirps demanding food.  They flutter and venture further and further from the nest, […]

By Margaret Brooks, 93. Bacchus Marsh, Victoria Sunday 8.8.2021 I was born at Quamby Hospital, Bacchus Marsh on the 3.9.1927. I grew up in the Raglan Cottage, Melton. In those days, most of the roads and streets were dirt roads. I had some very happy days going to school and playing skippy and hop scotch. […]

Somebody sent me a photo of the vacant block where Nan and Pa’s house had stood, even longer than the seventy-five years they occupied it. Well, at least Pa had been in it that long, Nan having pre-deceased him by more than a decade. Although demographically the average longevity of women being greater than that […]

By Sue, 68. Aberfoyle Park, SA “This is delicious,” Marge mumbled between mouthfuls of double chocolate muffin. Every Tuesday after she and her friend Fay had finished their hour-long exercise class, they treated themselves to a coffee and muffin of the week from the cafe’s specials board. “So convenient,” said Fay, “that the retirement village […]

By Lesley-Anne, 67. Christie Downs, SA It was the winter of 1963. The snow and the fog were like nothing I had ever seen. When I say fog, I mean the dense, impenetrable type where you can’t see more than a few inches in front of you. There was nothing wispy or ethereal about this […]

By Andy, 65. Byron Bay, NSW Hmmm when was this? Let’s see … I must have been back from India for quite a while. Months. Years maybe. I was living in Byron Bay as I remember being on the beach a lot, just lying in the sun or practicing harmonic throat singing. Of course, plenty […]

By Allan, 77. Salisbury North, SA There is a secret door and it has a secret lock.It is only for me to know, how it is and where it is.It is never far away, the secret door.I think none know about my secret door, for a secret shared is no secret anymore.I sometimes hint about […]

By Tessa, 65. Somers, VIC It came as a shock. Mid-morning, I was about to make coffee. My niece had died, suddenly. It was savage. It had been six months since her mother, my sister, died. A stroke and she was gone within 24 hours. There was nothing they could do, they said. It was […]

By Margaret, 73. Melbourne, VIC Each year my girlfriends and I have a reunion together. Once we were six. Now we are five. At Jane’s funeral, Lynne rose to deliver the eulogy. She surprised the Melbourne congregation by rotating in the pulpit in her baggy old school pinafore, salvaged from our last day of school […]

By Lindsey-Jane, 70. Adelaide, SA Way back in the ’50s, we had FJ Holden cars, doctors who paid house calls, and postmen who actually delivered twice a day (and what’s more, blew a whistle to announce their arrival!) Remember these things? Do you also remember women wearing hats and gloves to church or even to go […]