If I said to Ma tomorrow, we are thinking of going off to live in Oz. I know exactly what her response would be.
'Why have you waited this long?'
Ma would be all for us going, but I couldn't do it.
Now is not the right time.
Fate offered me a chance and I blew it. That would have been the right time to go....1971.
Dad was still alive, Ma was fit and well, daughter was only small, and she would have adapted well to the life that Australia offers.
She hadn't started school, so there were no ties.
But Gary you are right. I would not have had the opportunity to heal the rift with Ma.
(though, to this day I am still unsure what caused it.....I could ask Ma, but already she feels the guilt for that time....so I wouldn't heap more onto her).
I have a brother in Sydney and a sister in Brisbane........Nephew and Niece in Melbourne........so the ties I have to the country are always going to be strong.
Also I am under no illusion that having a holiday in a country(even though they were long holidays) and actually living there are vastly different.
The areas we travelled to were all beautiful.
I am aware that there are places that aren't so pleasant.
When I was visiting my brother in Sydney we drove through one of the suburbs called Redfern.
It is a dive, the houses are wrecked and the crime figures are high....and you wouldn't want to live there.
We drove through quickly and with the doors locked!
Where ever you go in the world you can find places like this. Where those on the margins of society are forced to live......and places like this are hard to escape from......children born into these places are stamped with the feral ways.....their opportunites are less and have to be fought for.
Who knows if I would have got the chance to pursue a successful(well, I think it was successful) and rewarding nursing career had I emigrated.
I think it would have been harder.......I would not have had the support to look after my daughter.
On the whole, I think that fate knew what it was doing when I got cold feet....becaause in the end I think I got the best of both worlds..........I got to see that beautiful country, to travel the length and breadth, while having the best opportunity to follow my dream on this side of the globe.
I think that I have been very very lucky to have such a rich life(and I don't mean that in a material sense).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16506530@N07/sets/72157605607670942/
The above link will take you to some of my pictures. You can then judge for yourself what you think of my views of Oz.
'Why have you waited this long?'
Ma would be all for us going, but I couldn't do it.
Now is not the right time.
Fate offered me a chance and I blew it. That would have been the right time to go....1971.
Dad was still alive, Ma was fit and well, daughter was only small, and she would have adapted well to the life that Australia offers.
She hadn't started school, so there were no ties.
But Gary you are right. I would not have had the opportunity to heal the rift with Ma.
(though, to this day I am still unsure what caused it.....I could ask Ma, but already she feels the guilt for that time....so I wouldn't heap more onto her).
I have a brother in Sydney and a sister in Brisbane........Nephew and Niece in Melbourne........so the ties I have to the country are always going to be strong.
Also I am under no illusion that having a holiday in a country(even though they were long holidays) and actually living there are vastly different.
The areas we travelled to were all beautiful.
I am aware that there are places that aren't so pleasant.
When I was visiting my brother in Sydney we drove through one of the suburbs called Redfern.
It is a dive, the houses are wrecked and the crime figures are high....and you wouldn't want to live there.
We drove through quickly and with the doors locked!
Where ever you go in the world you can find places like this. Where those on the margins of society are forced to live......and places like this are hard to escape from......children born into these places are stamped with the feral ways.....their opportunites are less and have to be fought for.
Who knows if I would have got the chance to pursue a successful(well, I think it was successful) and rewarding nursing career had I emigrated.
I think it would have been harder.......I would not have had the support to look after my daughter.
On the whole, I think that fate knew what it was doing when I got cold feet....becaause in the end I think I got the best of both worlds..........I got to see that beautiful country, to travel the length and breadth, while having the best opportunity to follow my dream on this side of the globe.
I think that I have been very very lucky to have such a rich life(and I don't mean that in a material sense).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16506530@N07/sets/72157605607670942/
The above link will take you to some of my pictures. You can then judge for yourself what you think of my views of Oz.
