"TREE"

I love trees!
I'm not sure if it's my family history of bushworkers or whether it's the symbolism they bring to mind in the form of family trees, roots and branches.
I remember always relishing the challenge of getting a "Family Tree" assignment at school. I come from a family of ten children, my Dad is one of ten children and my Mum is one of six children! On my Dad's side of the family I have 34 cousins and on my Mum's side I have 23 cousins. You can see why it was a challenge...but I think the reward came in the form of amazement shown on the teachers' faces when I submitted the extra large pieces of paper all joined together to make sure that each and every one of my extended family was included! I loved it!!
 I have included the following photos because they bring back memories which are important to me and which involve trees in some form or another.

Our first house in Scenic Rd had a lovely big wattle tree in the back yard. John built a tree house in it which had a slide attached to it. The kids spent endless hours in this tree. It was a happy place! This picture shows Jake with his cousins, Simon and Peter, monkeying around in the tree.

 

This photo was taken the day after Sian's 21st birthday in January, 2011. My family met at my sister Kerryn's place to celebrate another sister, Julie's, 50th birthday. This lovely shady tree has a bench seat built around it and was perfect for a fun family photo. Unfortunately, not everyone was there but it does include all of my brothers and sisters and my Mum, Dad, daughter and some nieces and nephews.

This is a photo of "The Tree of Life" which is displayed in the foyer of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine in Melbourne. My Mum and I attended a ceremony there to honour all those who donated organs or tissue in 2011. Each leaf on the tree represents a donor for that year. One of the gold leaves near the top of the tree has Jake's name on it as he posthumously donated tissue to brain research. The tree stands over two metres tall and we found it very fitting that we could barely reach Jake's leaf. He was SO tall!!

NOVEMBER 11th

Today marks exactly thirteen years since John's dad passed away. Yesterday would have been his 96th birthday. It doesn't seem that long since we have had him in our lives but I know that even thinking that is a good thing, as it means that our memories of him are still alive and vivid.
For the last three years of his life he was bedridden but his dementia prevented him from realising that. A blessing in disguise. It was not a life of quality but he was completely unaware of the straits he was in. He enjoyed having visitors but often wouldn't know who his visitors were. He would ramble on about the volkswagen he had parked in the driveway or the girls he would meet down at the railway yard. At one stage he even thought that I was one of those girls! These were all memories from his youth back in Holland. he didn't know Sian and Jake as they were his youngest grandchildren and, therefore, they were a part of his short-term memory which had all but disappeared.
In cases like this I think dementia is a godsend!! Having dementia prevented him from despairing over a life lived on a mattress. The downside is more for those witnessing this decline. His family and friends could see the deterioration in their loved one. They were his own sons, daughter-in-laws and grandchildren who often went unrecognised. And therein lies the sadness of dementia..it is not for the bearer, it is for those who witness and care for that state in one who was previously vibrant, alert and a part of their actuality.

Today also marks exactly 18 months since our beautiful son took his own life. He too is always in our hearts and on our minds and it still seems so unreal that he is not here with us!
Let us hope that the place these loved ones now reside in allows them to be healthy in mind and body. Let's hope that they are all together and that Jake is now testing his quick-wit on an Opa and a great Grandpa who were both full of fun and trickery, on an Oma who will just adore him because he is her grandson, on a Grandnan who cuddled him and loved him and with his brothers who can help him fill the heavens with cheeky grins and laughter and love!
We miss you all ! xxx

"SOMETHING BEGINNING WITH "C"

It's Concert time at school at the moment!!... the bane of most teachers!!!
Our concert is not for another 3 weeks but already its time to have planned what your little darlings are going to do and put the plan into action!!

I seem to have had no trouble deciding what to do this year but that is the easy part!
I decided to have all of the children play the part of grannies and grandpas. Then I wanted to have them singing "When I'm 64" by the Beatles. To add a bit of interest I've broken the song up into two parts and taken out the slower bit in the middle. Then I have inserted exerpts from Margaret Wild's "Our granny" into the middle.

All that is also fine!! The kids love the song and have learned the words very quickly! The girls are keen to do the "Our Granny" bit and should cope quite well with that!!

BUT... our first few rehearsals have been a disaster!!!!

They can sing the song, they can say the words but they can't follow directions on the stage!!
In order that everyone had a turn at the front of the stage I had two lines of boys at the front to start with. All they had to do was sing the song with a few basic actions and then follow the leader to the back line so that the next line could move forward. But, they couldn't follow the leader!!! One boy who had not had enough sleep stood there and stared into space, another boy stopped to chat to a mate on the way, and then a boy from the second row decided to follow the first row and I ended up with no boys at the front and half of them milling around at the back wondering where to go!  (They had been shown a number of times!!) Several practices later and nothing had improved!!! Back to the drawing board!!!

Today I put them into ONE long boring line with the boys interspersed with the girls!! Each child has a walking stick to use as their ONLY prop and ... it worked!! We have a long way to go but they managed to sing the song, say the words, do a couple of basic actions and stay in line!!! Woohoo!!
I will try to introduce a couple more actions once they have got these simple actions down pat and then I will totally be relying on "the cute factor" and the PowerPoint presentation I have decided to have showing behind them to detract from their ineptness...or is it mine??? Sounds more like it!! Concert!!!... definitely NOT my forte!!