Melbourne
13 Nov 1981
Dear Alan,
I
thought I would enclose a couple of photos. The one of Beverley and Pamela I
didn’t think was such a bad photo the one of dad isn’t very good but I didn’t
have a better one. I haven’t any photos of Anne or Lois from the last few years
because they are not around very much and I really haven’t taken many photos.
It’s a pity I wasn’t better at taking them because they are nice to look on. If
I take a photo of Lois or Anne I will send them to. There was an awful photo of
me that Beverley took. I am lying on the grass at Trentham and not looking very
elegant. Couldn’t possible give that to anyone.
Pamela
has at last found a flat. Just one bedroom unfurnished near East Malvern. Not
very far from Aunty Phyll’s place. She is moving in this weekend. Not before time because the girl she has been
living with is getting married in a fortnight. Are you living in a furnished or
unfurnished place because it must cost a bit to buy all the furniture if there
is nothing there.
You
didn’t say whether you were going for a holiday or you working when you went to
Basutoland. You might as well see as much of the country while you are there.
We saw a very interesting program on Swaziland recently. It was all about the ruler who has been in
charge for years. It was strange because although the population is nearly all
black and the government nearly all black they said that more than half the
land was still owned by white people. They didn’t explain why they had not
tried to take it from the white people. The program showed how the old cultures
of the Swazis were very important in keeping the people together. It looked
very odd but several times in the old traditional dances and processions you
would see a white child who had joined in. Nobody seemed to care.
It’s a
coincidence but both Lois and Anne said the same thing to me lately. Lois is
working at Christ the King several days a week until Christmas and Anne is
doing extra practice at Deer Park High because the schools she was at were no
good. At both schools there is a teacher who was at Sunshine High with you.
When they have found out who Lois and Anne were they both asked what you were
doing. The one at Christ the King is Frank but Anne couldn’t remember the name
of the one at Deer Park High all she said about him was that he was very tall.
There
has been quite a lot lately about South Africa in the paper. I will cut more of
them out and send them to you. One of the writers mentioned Coetzee and also
Brink. Must see if I can get any of their books at the library. I have bought
home several books from there on Africa but they all seemed to me out of date.
Even the one I mentioned to you before-the photograph book- was several years
old.
Did I tell you Jenny M was going to have a baby? Well she
had a miscarriage this week and lost the baby. She is not very happy but it
seems it is fairly common.
I hope
you had a good time when you went away and if it was a holiday enjoyed yourself
there. What do you do in a place like that? This is not very easy to read so
this will do for now.
Love from Mum.
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