About my Dad - his early years
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Written by yve 30. Sep 2007 03:45 PM
I'll start this diary by telling you about my Dad. Dad was born in July 1937 in Melbourne, Victoria. His Dad went away to fight in WW2 so for the first few years of his life it was just his Mum and older sister. He lived with his grandmother in Glenhuntly. He was a very smart child and was placed 2 grades ahead at school. Of course this meant he was a lot smaller then the boys in his grade and that caused problems - he learnt to run fast.
At the age of 11 his parents sent him to St. Bedes boarding school, they by then had moved to Riddells Creek having bought a parcel of land under the returned soldiers settlement plan. Dad hated life at the boarding school, the boys were a lot bigger then him although he was intellectually the same.
He acquired a hate of meat loaf, cauliflower and a few other foods at his time there. What he most remembers about his time there is always being hungry. He only ever returned home in the holidays. He had to catch a train into the city then a country train to his home all by himself. You could say he learnt to be quite independant and resilient at such a young age. I couldn't imagine letting my kids do that!!
After he left school he had a job at a grocery store.
When he turned 19 he applied for and was accepted into the police force.
Dad met Mum at a local dance. Mum was 17 at the time but had been working since she was 15 at the Grain Store in Melbourne commuting everyday by train from her home in Diggers Rest. I guess you could say it was love at first sight because they have been inseparable since and celebrated their 47th wedding anniversary this year. They have 8 children and 29 grandchildren