Always a cheery soul, Tom is en route to Martinborough and would have taken me away for the day but unfortunately I was committed as usual, to the Potluck lunch at B.P. So be it, it would have been a lovely drive. So instead we shared a coffee and cake at the Memphis.
Kiwi Rugby Sevens preparing already for the Rio Olympics
My home team in Gosford playing soccer in Wellington tonight!
Surveying the excellent cakes, bought from Zaida's... 
We chatted about the Anzacs and his grandfather who served at Gallipoli. Also he related the story of his Mum, who would have been made a 'Dame' had she lived, for her services in creating the first Refuge for the women of New Zealand. After the return of the soldiers in the Second World War, there were many women who had been liberated during the war who experienced real wages for the first time. Now having been given money for their work they felt their worth and escaped the sometimes slave conditions they had formerly experienced of working for nothing at home.
The phenomenal return of thousands of shell-shocked men suffering from the now recognised Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, made them not exactly easy to live with, and many wives sought solace in these refuges which had to be created for their safety and well-being. Bernice, Tom's mother, sounds like a formidable woman, and Tom has fond memories of her, although unfortunately she died at a very young age, leaving her husband who lived till he was 106 years old, recently passing away from natural causes. He did marry again by the way.
Tomorrow, Wellington will swell with pride at the opening of the newly renovated War Memorial, which will begin a week-long commemoration of Returned Servicemen, culminating in the Anzac Day March along Taranaki Street to the said Memorial, with a Dawn Service being held on April 25, the actual Anzac Day. I am hoping to attend the Saturday service.
No comments:
Post a Comment