Letter to Students 25 March 2008

Dear Reader

It is the end of the longest holiday I have had since Christmas, and like Christmas, it has been wonderfully busy.  I was so looking forward to this special Easter break as it was the time when my old high school was celebrating its 50^th anniversary. I remember that the year in my last year of high school, I left for a year in Wisconsin in the United States, and on my return, LoganParkHigh School was in its first year.  The opening of this school totally changed the demographic of the students at my school, Kaikorai Valley High School, as it was then called, and although it still has a good reputation as a caring school, it never retained the reputation for academic excellence which it enjoyed when I was there. I must hasten to add, that I had nothing to do with its excellent reputation, but I did benefit from the many good teachers who taught there, and a couple of them are still there!!  Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to the gathering on Friday night when so many of my old teachers and classmates enjoyed a big catch up.  Han and I had had a disagreement over our son, and we weren’t in the right spirit to meet my old classmates.  I contemplated going on my own, but we had been invited to have a drink with our neighbours, and I had one too many drinks to consider driving into town later in the evening!  I spent that Friday afternoon on a nostalgic walk on my own, taking the high road, Highcliff Road, till I reached the Bacon track which took me down to the wee cottage in Broad Bay which I had bought when I had just returned from Japan with my one year old daughter, Suny. I so vividly the first time I saw this cottage as it reminded me of a little blue box lost in a wasteland of grass, unloved and forgotten.  It was so easy to find its soul, and with the help of my parents and Japanese friends we discovered a secret garden under the weeds, and pulled back old carpets to reveal wooden floor boards which we sanded to reveal their golden sheen.  Years of paint was scraped off the window frames so that they could open again, and I allowed light to flow in by having French doors installed in the front of the house.  I took nothing for granted in those days.  I had very little money, but what do you think my first purchase was in those days of frugality?  I thought it strange myself, but I bought a dehydrator!!  I dried lots of fruit in that first year, but it was in no way a priority!! There was no sewerage system connected at the time, and I had a bucket in the toilet which I carefully emptied when it was full.  I used to carefully carry this bucket across the lounge, and navigate the narrow steps up to a flat part of the garden where I had dug a hole.  I never fell over, but I was always very carefull!  I lived in trepidation that I would slip! It was three years later that a flush toilet was installed, and I felt so blessed, and I have never taken a flush toilet for granted since that time!! When I walked around the cottage on Friday, which is now bed and breakfast accommodation, so many memories flooded back that I could feel the tears stream down my face.  I had discovered glorious treasures in the garden after moving in there twenty two years ago, and used to sit on my verandah and enjoy the water which lapped in the bay across the road from my home.  My daughter was just a toddler, and we had made friends with a dear old lady who became my daughter’s second grandmother.  We used to go onto the beach, play in the water, and pick passion fruit at this time of year.  Suny had her own wee gumboots, and we used to hop into my bright yellow van and go foraging for firewood on the other side of the peninsula. The little potbelly stove only took small pieces of wood, so I used to chop the wood I scavenged into small pieces.  It was a good life, and I loved my piece of paradise which I had created.

My second purchase, a much more practical purchase, was a low table which a carpentry lecturer made for me when I was teaching at the Otago Polytechnic.  At the time, I was working with Cambodian refugees, and part of the course was teaching them practical skills.  As I write, Han and I are watching a musical DVD on the new sound system we bought today.  Han hasn’t been able to listen to his DVDs and is in seventh heaven as he plays his guitar along to them. He is an excellent guitarist, and is considering having singing lessons as he so loves singing.  Do you enjoy singing?  I love it, but I am only allowed to sing if we have both had too much to drink!!  In my next life I want to be a singer!! This line of thought is leading to the fact that the TV screen is sitting on the table that the carpentry lecturer made for me.  I used to eat off it when I was in my cottage, and it has particularly poignant memories as this young lecturer committed suicide the first Christmas after we had met.  He had just split up with his partner, and obviously the emotions of the Christmas season tipped him over the edge.  A young high school student from KaikoraiValleyCollege met a similar fate this past Friday when I was still out of sorts with Han. Splitting up with his girlfriend proved too much for him, and he also took his own life.  I feel sorry for him and his friends, but more so for those poor parents who have to spend the rest of their lives without their treasured son.  

Being a parent is an awesome privilege, but massive responsibility, and one that can not be taken lightly.  This weekend, our seventeen year old daughter Shahan had her birthday party with her friends at our home, and they all came out yesterday afternoon, and left about lunchtime today.  There were fifteen young people whom we took to Allen’s beach yesterday, and on returning home, left them to enjoy themselves in the lounge.  After making them a big dinner of homemade pizza, and barbecued vegetables picked in the garden, we left them to have a leisurely dinner before a dozen of them had a spa before going down to the harbour for a swim!  Shahan’s friends are such neat people, and I feel so proud of the friends that Shahan has gathered around her.  She was totally blown away when these friends gave her a new cell phone as she had just found out that her relatively new cell phone couldn’t be repaired.  We told her that it was all credit to her that she had such wonderful friends, and she should just luxuriate in their friendship.  One of the friends had organized a special scrap book for her, and this was just as special as the cell phone.  We went through the book together later this afternoon as we sat outside on the deck, and I thought what a treasure such a book will be in the future.

As I recall the weekend, the days are becoming a blur as every day I woke early so that I could make bread dough for the evening meal.  Before preparing the dinner for Shahan’s party, Han and I went over to our friends for lunch, and sat outside and had a relaxing lunch to toast our friendship as one of our friends was heading off to America on business.  We are so lucky to live in this part of the world where we can sit outside and relax without fear of war.  When I watch the troubles of Tibet, Palestine and Iraq, to name but three of many countries in turmoil, I feel truly blessed, and so cross with myself that I become embroiled in trifle arguments with Han.

Han has just asked me if I like my new wee computer as we bought a notebook today so that I can take it when I travel.  I so love writing, and whenever I travel, I find the weight of the laptop detracts from my enjoyment of walking around.  Now, I have no excuse not to write about what I see around me, and what I feel.

Our Easter break began on Thursday night when our second daughter invited us for a barbecue at her house, and we had such a fabulous time at their home, sitting around the big fire which they had built in the front yard.  Wee Ella, two years old in two weeks, is talking so much, and apparently she told her father to “get back into the kitchen,” when he told her not to sit on the table!!  A cheeky little monkey indeed!

Can you remember how beautiful the day was on Sunday?  Shahan hoped that the day of her birthday would be as spectacular, and unfortunately it clouded over for her special day, I love such days when the sun is shining, and we enjoyed getting into the garden as we will soon put the garden to sleep for the winter. Every morning, we have got up early, and Friday was the first early start when I took Jan to his basketball tournament, leaving home at seven o’clock. I popped in to see my mother early while Jan had his warm up before his big game, and I returned to watch an exciting game which his team won. Our daughter from Hawea arrived out for lunch on Saturday, so I cooked a big meal so that they felt spoilt by mother!  We then headed off with the grandchildren to watch Jan as his tournament was held over two days, and Han glowed with pride as we watched our four grandchildren play “tunnels” between the seats.  We dropped the children off at their home, and they were excited as their father was taking them camping overnight.  Unfortunately our oldest daughter and youngest grandson were sick, so Jo opted to stay at home and recuperate. 

On Saturday night, we spent a glorious evening with friends whom we hadn’t seen for a very long time.  Their daughter lives in Japan with her Japanese husband and two children, and it was great to listen to her describe the countryside in which she lives in Kyuushu, the island Han and I would like to spend time in when we retire.  My dream is to buy an old traditional Japanese house in the countryside, and spend three months a year there.  Dreams are free!!  The conversation with our friends was hilarious, especially when we talked about my late teens and the life I led then.  I went out with a mutual friend for a short time, and this man is now a well known politician. I won’t go into details, but I might share a few stories with you in person!

The good weather continued, and we had lunch and dinner outside on Sunday with our daughter and son in law from Harwood. Am I right when I say that the weather was good on both days?  It is really late, and I can’t remember.  I know I cooked a great deal this past weekend, as we had between six and twenty people seated for each meal!! I love such gatherings, which is just as well!  On Sunday evening, we made it to the cabaret which marked the ending of the KaikoraiValleyCollege reunion.  I felt so sorry I hadn’t made it to the Friday night, as that was the night all my old teachers and classmates gathered.  Only two of my friends were at the cabaret, but we had a lot to catch up on. My two friends had changed, and I wouldn’t have recognised them if they hadn’t said who they were.  However, my old science teacher looked exactly the same, and although I was scared of this “old man,” he must have only been in his thirties at the time.  He had gone prematurely bald, and when I asked him if I could ask his age, he said I could ask but he wouldn’t tell me how old he was!  He was really strict, and kept meticulous records of his students’ results, and there was a record of my science results.  I remember thinking I was hopeless at science, but I actually came 12^th in a class of 37 students, and the boy who came 8^th is now an orthopedic surgeon!  Although I missed seeing this surgeon, Han and I enjoyed dancing at the cabaret, and I felt good in my sparkling blue ball gown. 

It is now time to go to sleep, after having had a full on weekend filled with lots of special moments.  I had hoped to take some time out, and relax, but that was not to be.  It will happen, and no one will be more surprised than Han and me! Let’s have a great, short week together, and make the most of each day.

Love

Sharron