GAIL

Gail (deceased) m Tommy

2 children - Kristina - born m Thomas - born 12.10.1959

2 children Erik - born 21.01.1994 & Annya - born 25.7.2002

- Jayson - born 28.7.1966 m Fiona born 12.11.1968 (Fiona said feel free to remove 10 years, so that makes it 1958 and she is nearly as old as Neil! ) no children

Tommy, Jayson and Fiona live in Auckland, Kristina, Thomas & family live in Adelaide

MORMOR – Growing Up

Me

5ft5½, average build, hair medium wavy brown and through childhood and teenage years had all the different hairstyles such as ringlets, curls, pigtails, pony tail, set in rollers, teased up with lots of hairspray, short, long, you name it and I was a bit shy when I was really young.

Health

When I was about three, I have been told I got really badly sunburnt and Mum had to take me for daily treatment to the local hospital. One day I didn’t want to go to school because I loved listening to the morning radio stories especially “Dr Paul” and ran the thermometer under the hot water tap which promptly raised the mercury so high I shouldn’t have been alive. I didn’t have the right wrist action to be able to bring it down and can’t recall the outcome other than panic on my part so I guess I ended up at school that day. Neil said he wasn’t feeling well one day and Mum thought he just didn’t want to go to school but he had peritonitis (burst appendix) and I’m sure was really serious for him.

Family

Dad was in the front line of the Home Guard during the Second World War, I just can’t imaging how hard that must have been for Mum and Dad,at least he was in NZ at not sent overseas. They had been through really hard times as well with the Depression and I can’t help but feel mine was definitely a very lucky generation.

I’m still not sure why but three of us four kids are called by our second names, Brian Keith 4 years older than me, Graeme Neil 2 years older, Barbara Gail me, and Beverley Janne 5,1/2 years younger. Neil and I fought a bit, I guess because we were the closest in age, playing cards ended up as “52 pick up” and other games we played like monopoly I never seemed to be able to win and was never quite sure if he was pulling the wool over my eyes or not, or if he really was just a lot smarter than me.

The boys took me with them into Newmarket to Dad’s work – I think Mum was resting being pregnant with Janne, we were dirty scruffy kids who decided to ask for Keith Hallam Holloway in case there was more than one person with that name, boy did we both get a good spanking after that episode although I felt we hadn’t done anything wrong, we must have given Mum and Dad an awful scare as it is quite a long way with a couple of very main roads to cross.

I used to sleep walk sometimes apparently but was well behaved and went back to bed when told to. Mum made me a yellow mattress with tiny red dots on it out of kapok it must have taken her ages and been really messy to make but it was the most uncomfortable thing you can imagine, within minutes your whole body had created a hole and you were lying straight on the bed wire wove. Nice idea but not a good night’s sleep. Mum used to have a “potty” under the bed as our toilet was outside but joined on to the house through the laundry. In the toilet high up was a cupboard we keep our out of season clothes we loved to pull down at the new season to see what we had and could fit into.

Until we got our first black and white TV, family evenings would be spent listening to radio stories (I was allowed to stay up an extra ¼ hr at each birthday), writing letters (I had a Chinese penfriend Michael Tan in Singapore and a Norwegian Ilpo Siljamo), playing board games, stamp collection, and I used to collect interesting looking recipes as I was enjoying cooking, especially baking and always with an appreciative audience in 2 older brothers who gobbled everything down before it had a chance to cool down.

I never knew either of my grandfathers. My Mum’s mum “Nanna” divorced and remarried Scotsman “Mack” and lived in Belmont, Takapuna (Corella Road). He was forever swatting flies with a rolled up newspaper. Nanna always had yummy home made biscuits, gave me my first cup of tea and I felt very grown up. When I stayed there I slept in a lovely high bed with big quilts and a loud ticking clock. My Dad’s mum, also “Nanna” lived in Bayswater, Takapuna and for a long while at Surfdale on Waiheke Island. As a family we sometimes caught the old steamer “Baroona” there to visit, my Uncle George was the ticket man and he and Aunty Mavis lived next door, she was a school teacher and had the local stationery shop.

My Aunty Doris (Mum’s older sister is still alive at the moment 95) had a bach (beach cottage) at Oneroa on Waiheke Is. Uncle Mick died of leukemia when I was about 10. My cousin Janice about 5 years older than me and was my role model I thought she was wonderful. I was bridesmaid at her wedding to Phil. I remember a visit to Waiheke when I ate White Xmas (home made chocolate) and was promptly sick on the ferry and for days after couldn’t eat anything. There was no electricity, lamplight only and it was a lot of fun, they also had yummy red plum trees. My brothers and I stayed at Waiheke not sure who with, but it must have been when Janne was born. We walked to the local school at Blackpool where children of all ages were in the same classroom and I must have had a snotty nose because all I can remember was the teacher growling that I didn’t have a hanky with me. My Mum’s younger sister Myrtle and her builder husband Scotsman Harry lived in Takapuna. For many years they had a gorgeous collie dog, and in later years bred and kept shelties, the miniature collie.

I have great fun loving cousins, the ones we had most to do with were on Mum’s side of the family, Renton, Chris and Ross, Garry, Janice and Peter and on Dad’s side of the family, Jeff who died of cancer when he was about 8, his sister Jacqui who also died of cancer in her 20’s with 2 small children and Ann, Tony and Jenny, Colin, Ian and Barbara and Marion and Gordon who lives in Milan who I’ve never known.

Dad’s brothers and sister were Ron, Mary, Frank and Doug (who was killed in a topdressing plane accident) and Mum’s brother Bert we didn’t see so often.

I joined the Girls Life Brigade (similar to Guides) through Tricia Goulding our next door neighbour and although we didn’t go on camps that I recall we did enjoy doing a lot of crafts and getting badges all up and down our sleeves for our achievements. One year I carried their flag in the Town Hall at the annual ceremony. Rosemary was her sister and closer in age to us and we all loved her, I used to spent quite a bit of time there and was bridesmaid at her wedding to Bob they later had 5 girls that I know of. Her mum was always baking goodies and had nice books and toys to play with. Their older brother Ross always used to say he would marry me.

A Teenager in the 1950’s

Sloppy Joes, oversized jumpers were popular for a long time. Dad, along with assorted help from the rest of the family built a dingy downstairs. The earth covered “dirty part” as we called it was used for storage and was always a fascinating place to go to down the steep staircase. One time playing with my friends I put my elbow through a plate glass window into the dirty part and needed six stitches, I still have the scar. We had table tennis there for a while, and at other times Dad had photographic equipment and gemstones and tools. Janne and I were given new brown striped t/shirts that had the words “Buy Joman Goods” all over and it took me a long time to realise we were walking advertisers. .Elvis had a huge impact on kids and parents in the 50s, kids loved him, parents hated him, but it was all pretty harmless he and his music were just very different. We had some wonderful times rock ‘n rolling to his music. Others singers I liked at the time were Johnny Mathis (Until the 12th of Never) and Pat Boone (Love letters in the sand), very mushy romantic stuff by today’s standards. Bodgies and widgies were the “rough” kids of the late 50s – the guys had long greasy hair, winkle picker (really narrow pointed toed) shoes and either luminous green or orange socks.

Work

School Holidays: Farmers Trading Co Restaurant, Auckland City - making sandwiches/clearing tables; Greenlane Hospital packing cotton wool balls, bandages etc for sterilisation etc; After doing Secretarial Course at ATI (Shorthand – my best subject, Typing, Bookkeeping, Commercial Practice and English) they asked me if I would be a Shorthand/Typing teacher at the College but it didn’t really appeal to me, although I did end up working for one year there for 4 Heads of Department; After that I applied for and got a job with the Police Department (Secretarial); On my given start date to my shock they weren’t expecting me and asked me to begin in a few weeks time; I couldn’t afford not to have a job and got one straight away at Charles Haines Advertising a busy job I really enjoyed for two years before scraping enough money together for a working holiday to Australia. In those days getting work was pretty easy; Dr J Spence – Royal Prince Alfred Medical Centre, Sydney 10 months; Protector Safety back in NZ part time 2 years; Various temp jobs including Revlon where I was offered a good job but Carborundum made me a much better offer so I stayed at Carborundum Abrasives 10 years

This is probably pretty boring stuff for others but I’ve really enjoyed thinking back on all these memories, I had a fantastic life, totally fulfilled with a great marriage to Tommy, and life with our gorgeous children and grandchildren, family and friends, who could ever ask for anything more??

From Janne

My darling Gail – you’ve been the most awesome sister I could have wished for and I couldn’t have loved you more. You’ve always been there for me and we should now celebrate your life and not dwell on your death. I hope that the family who are here today can derive some comfort from knowing how much you were cherished.

The night you died I put the angel on top of the Xmas tree, (You’ll remember the luminous one – even though its wings are broken off now – it symbolises all that was magic about our childhood) - and I thought of you.

While I was trying so hard to be distracted in the garden while you were so ill in hospital, I’m sure I heard sleigh bells ringing in the distance – and I thought of you.

Of every recollection I have of you over the years you’ve always been smiling. You were made from the same very special, but rare mould, that was caring and selfless, that our darling Mum was made from.

You put all you had into everything you did, from playing tennis or bridge, or trudging up a steep mountain trail.

How special you’ve been to so many people and how much stronger we are for being a part of your life. You live on through your beautiful children and grandchildren and they’re a credit to you. You’ve been a loyal and devoted wife and Tommy will miss you terribly. I’m so pleased I got the chance to tell you how much I loved you. I treasure my memories of you, especially on our long tramps together, where I feel we achieved a special closeness that only sisters can share.

I’ve been proud to call you my sister and I feel blessed, for loving and being loved by you. You will live on in our hearts for all time. Goodbye my darling