I scanned in an old album of photos taken in about 1983/84 just after Don came out of the Spinal Unit. Melissa and Alison were 7 and 4 and the whole family had gone through huge upheaval - not only all being split up for a while but having to give up our rented home after the accident and basically having to depend on a friend or two for somewhere to sleep till we got a place in Sydney near the hospital -
During all of this which went on fro 7 months i don't remember these kids of ours ever complaining about anything they had to do for me, for their dad or just to make things work and be easier...
after we came out of the hospital - the Housing Commission found us a small place Don could use - it was basic but we were really glad to be all together.
I remember from that time crowns of little girls sitting about playing, pushing prams dressing up...and in the middle Don became I guess a "safe" male - so our place became a centre.
Alison (right) still has Toby the bear - I bought him for her, second hand when she was sick with Pneumonia at 2...and he has pride of place in her bedroom now she is 32.The bear kept them apart at night, as Melissa was a leg thrower and slept wildly..Not too many kids have a queen sized water bed - was our old bed but was unsuitable after Don was injured - so this bed took up most of the little room they shared...
Don and Alison - what can I say? Have you ever seen a kid look so comfortable. In the afternoons I would get him get out of the wheelchair, so he could lay back because the first chair was really uncomfortable - he came home with a manual chair which he couldn't push - don't get me started on the money they cost us with their stupidity down at the Spinal unit...later and many thousands of dollars later we got an electric chair...
The kids were great - if we had to go somewhere, even as young as they were they got in there and helped...and because they did it was fun, rather than "hands Off" there were some really funny things that happened that most people could never imagine - and these photos are a treasure.
Melissa, Don and Alison -
It got pretty cold in that house and at that stage we hadn't graduated to much heating - we did have to later on, but a lot of blankets and scarves helped...
