Fast Lady

In an old tin box, yesterday while looking at cards and letters from before 1972, when Don and I met, I found an envellope full of at least ten speeding tickets... and the penalty at that time was $6 Australian (circa 1967-69).

This is the car he loved and finally smashed ...it was called as you can see on the driver's side front.."Fast Lady". He lived at Blackwater (Queensland) and aged 16,17 and 18 worked for the US company called Utah Mining.

But on second thoughts I think that the above car was a Vauxhall or older Valiant...and this car also named "Fast Lady" was his brand new Valiant. Car type people will pick it...

all the grass around the car as well as that car are is burnt...but not the lovely Don.

He went through the cars at that stage thats for sure, in his reckless youth...I am so glad he had an angel on his shoulder, or I never would have met him...

when he finally did get hurt seriously it was just at work and something which couldn't be helped and nobody could have forseen. Funny that.

I went out to the cemetary at Wauchope today - because I had to...like sort of reminding myself that "No he is not coming home"...he is not just down the street, nor asleep in bed...

Like most of us, our little family has had its fair share of close deaths, luckily no children of any of us... but the ache inside me is unbelievable. I know that this is grief, and its normal. When you lived as closely as we did, almost 24 hours a day 7 days a week , and live with the knowledge of the preciousness of life, because we knew that any day since his initial accident, something could go wrong...we lived in the present... not wishing and dreaming about this and that... not needing to travel, accepting not going to the beach, and being unable to visit people's homes (most were impossible to access)...we became very self sufficient...and happy...apart from the odd blue which is okay.

Right now it just feels impossible to think I will never see him again in this life, but even as I write this in my mind's eye I can see his eyes filled with so much love. He wasn't perfect, we were not perfect... our family was /is not perfect, but what we had was real...

and he sure had a good time in his misbegotten youth. This was taken at about 17 before the long hair, beard etc... and he assured me he was quite the catch in Blackwater, and in a town actually called Dingo (I kid you not)...another town called Bluff ( hm!)...girls every where he assured me...

I sure had good taste ... when I met him he had long fair hair a thick beard and moustache and the best set of shoulders I had ever seen (apart from my own dad) all from hard work not the pooncy gym...

and his "Fast Lady" days were over as the first car we bought was a Hillman Imp...from the wrecker's yard for $142 and we drove it up to Cairns in north Queensland and all over...rolled in on Port Douglas beach up there... and drove it back down to NSW with the back windscreen out ( a bit chilly to sleep in at night..)