Mary was such a gracious and lovely host, as I left, I
asked if I could hug her. We spent a fair bit of time chatting, and she
had such a rich life and colourful stories to share.
76
soon, she's still quite fit, though she mentioned that she's suffering
from arthritis all over, and her upper thigh is afflicted by some form
of cancer. "I'm happy here," she said as she sat in a lounge chair on
the veranda. "I want for nothing really".
She
moved to Ipswich around 12 years ago, having had a life of moving
around a lot and doing various jobs. Operated a lighthouse for some
time, then an estate agent. Raised a family of 3 (she confided in me
that one committed suicide at 21 when I asked who the photos of some
beautiful ladies on the wall of her bedroom, the room I slept in,
were).
She's one of
those ladies you'd like to have as your grandma, as she'll just dote on
you and share the wisdom of the world with you.
Born
and grew up in isolation (that's what she called it. I imagine that
means remote areas where you don't see anyone for tens of kilometers ,
and remote from the closest Outback town.
Life was hard, she said, but people tried to make things work. This is the land, and somehow you Just live with it.
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