Nan

Nan was my maternal grandmother. She was one of five children, married late, well back then 29 was old to be getting married, apparently after some pressure from her family to do so. 

She married a farmer in Gippsland and being the era when Australia rode off the sheep's back, they did very well for themselves. My grandmother apparently was wealthy enough to lend money to others. She had three children, my two uncles followed by my mum when she was 40. She lived for most of my young years a short pony ride from the farmhouse they gave to Mum and Dad.

She had an immaculate and modern white brick home having moved from the original property at Winton to a hillview over the Avon river. Recently her home was up for sale by the new owners so I got to step into it again with a virtual tour. Unfortunately, the new owners had completely destroyed the feel of the home. There was now a swimming pool embedded in the front yard instead of a gorgeous floral garden and inside all the fancy 1970s decor had obviously been removed and replaced with floating floors and patternless finishes.

I remember several things about my Nan. She had a capacious bosom that I burrowed into when I sat on her lap. She was an amazing cook. She had a beautiful garden with a sweeping drive and would take me all through it telling me the names of the plants. I remember alyssum and freesias, a bougainvillea creeping over the garden shed and her pride and joy, a "blue rose" which I was told many years later by a rude florist, does not exist but it was what she called it and it was a very blue, mauve coloured bloom. I remember learning to ride a bike without training wheels along her driveway.

When we moved from Gippsland to the Goulburn Valley Nan insisted on coming too a few years later. Mum had to help find her a house, which funnily enough looked like a smaller version of her home in Gippsland, white brick, mock Corinthian columns and a courtyard and again an amazing garden full of rare plants. When Nan became quite elderly she hired gardeners and they stole some of her plants.

She looked after Grandpa when he had dementia and eventually she suffered from it herself. She died in hospital after breaking her hip. I wasn't allowed to go to her funeral as mum said no children were allowed. I was in second year uni and I grieved at a friend's church on the weekend instead.