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From my desk
Today on the 16th February 2017 friends (Gillian & Mike McGraths) who had arrived from England on a tour of New Zealand left for a tour of South Island before their return home. I was surprised by my sense of loss for we may never see them again. Perhaps it was the thought of being 80 later this year that brought this on----however there it is.
Since we arrived in NZ 42 years ago we have made our place in a lovely country which is our slice of paradise. Not that we ignore our roots for our lives have two sections; from our births in December 1937 in Sutton St. Helens, Lancashire until January 1975 when we came to New Zealand.
Our first home may have been in a grimy glass town and though the second world war but to us it was a very happy home with lots of family , aunties, uncles and cousins living nearby. What you don't have you don't miss and we were very happy with wonderful caring parents who provided loving homes. We made our own fun and had a great range of friends who wandered the park, avenues and streets having great fun.
Rita and I were unfortunate to lose our fathers at an early age. Mine when I was 10 in 1948 and Rita's when she was 17 in 1955. Since we were born two days and one mile apart in December our lives have mirrored. when Rita's parents bought a house built by my grandfather just around the corner when she was thirteen it was "fait accomplis" . How can I ever forget my first meeting with her in Sutton Park- a sunburnt bright athletic girl who could outrun me. It took five years before I could finally catch up when we had our first date. But we had been very good friends in the intermeaning years in a crowd of young people who inhabited Sutton Cricket and Tennis Club where we were in the tennis teams. Another meeting point was the folk dancing group at Rivington High School on a Saturday evening.
Our mothers were then our sole parents then and what lovely mothers we had even though they were so devastated losing their wonderful husbands. Edith and Hannah (Anne) could not have done more for us and gave us a fantastic childhood.
Since we arrived in NZ 42 years ago we have made our place in a lovely country which is our slice of paradise. Not that we ignore our roots for our lives have two sections; from our births in December 1937 in Sutton St. Helens, Lancashire until January 1975 when we came to New Zealand.
Our first home may have been in a grimy glass town and though the second world war but to us it was a very happy home with lots of family , aunties, uncles and cousins living nearby. What you don't have you don't miss and we were very happy with wonderful caring parents who provided loving homes. We made our own fun and had a great range of friends who wandered the park, avenues and streets having great fun.
Rita and I were unfortunate to lose our fathers at an early age. Mine when I was 10 in 1948 and Rita's when she was 17 in 1955. Since we were born two days and one mile apart in December our lives have mirrored. when Rita's parents bought a house built by my grandfather just around the corner when she was thirteen it was "fait accomplis" . How can I ever forget my first meeting with her in Sutton Park- a sunburnt bright athletic girl who could outrun me. It took five years before I could finally catch up when we had our first date. But we had been very good friends in the intermeaning years in a crowd of young people who inhabited Sutton Cricket and Tennis Club where we were in the tennis teams. Another meeting point was the folk dancing group at Rivington High School on a Saturday evening.
Our mothers were then our sole parents then and what lovely mothers we had even though they were so devastated losing their wonderful husbands. Edith and Hannah (Anne) could not have done more for us and gave us a fantastic childhood.
