I finally managed to track Bob down the other day.
He was surprised to hear from me after such a long time, and came round for a while on Saturday afternoon.
It was strange looking at him for the first time in 33 years. Age has changed us both, but I could tell it was still the same old Bob I knew in the 70’s.
We reminisced about our school days. I’d completely forgotten that we both went to our first rock & roll concert together in 1975: Skyhooks at Festival Hall in Brisbane. He also came to my 13th birthday party that year and still remembers kissing Leslie Hillhouse when we played spin the bottle.
I got onto Google Maps and showed Bob some of the streets in the town where he lived before his family migrated to Australia. I’m hoping he’ll bite the bullet and go back there one day soon. When we were kids, he always said he’d do it, but he never did.
Bob has taught me that friends can change your life. Not through heroics. Just by being friends.
So when you look at it like that, friends are very important.
A postcrossing postcard from Timo and Hanna in Finland.
Their 2yo son very kindly drew me a picture of a cruise ship on the back of the card. I’ll hang on to this. If he becomes a famous Finish artisit it might be worth a fortune some day!
It speaks for itself. I have no idea how this turned up after 36 years. Sometimes it pays to be a hoarder!
It’s amazing the facts that co-incide with this old letter:
1. Tropical Cyclone Emily occurred from 27 March to 4 April 1972. Eight lives were lost at sea. It crossed the QLD coast south of Gladstone, wreaking havoc in the Brisbane to Gladstone yacht race, in which only 5 of the 25 starters were able to complete the race.
2. Dad’s brother Brian was working in the merchant navy at the time. His ship was in Brisbane on 17 March 1972. Next time I get to the State Library, I’ll look up the name of the ship in the Courier Mail.
3. Mum’s Father, John Mitchell let us know he’s be visiting us in September 1972.
4. The TV talent show, "Opportunity Knocks", very popular in Britain at the time, started screening in Brisbane.
5. Bruce (Dad) spars with Australian Light Middleweight boxing champ, Jeff White. Dad was a heavyweight, and says White wanted some sparring practice with a heavier boxer. Dad landed a beauty on White’s nose, and White got pretty annoyed after that, and Dad had scars and bruises to show off for weeks after.
Here’s the interpretation for those who can’t read the writing of a 9 year old:
3/4/72
Dear Gran,
Hello, I’m sorry I couldn’t write, it just skipped my mind. I hope you had a happy easter and that you are keeping well. Easter was great over here. I had my bicycle fixed not long ago and now it’s got a puncture, but I need not worry because I bought a puncture outfit. There’s a new cyclone coming down the coast called "Emily". At six pm yesterday it crossed the coast. Uncle Brian came last month and we had a lovely surprise. It was a coincidence because he was here for Karen’s birthday. Grandad says he’ll be coming over here in September. I said a lille prayer for you so you could get better. Now we are having "Opportunity Knocks" on over here. Dad goes to boxing now and he sparred with Jeff White, in case you don’t no who he is, he’s the champion boxer of Australia. We’ll it’s signing of time I guess, so good bye and god bless you. From your grandson Neil xxxxxxx PS. Sorry the letter was so short.
This was the day Mum, Dad, Karen, Kevin and I flew to the UK, aboard a BOAC Super VC10 flying to Darwin, Singapore, KL, Abu Dhabi and eventually London (Heathrow).
It was really good of Robert and Bob to come up to the airport to see me off.
I used to sit next to Robert in grade three in Henry Palasczuk’s English class. Henry was really strict. He’d sorted the class into rows according to ability. If you didn’t do well on your weekly spelling test, you’d have to go down a row. Eventually, if you didn’t do well while you were in the lowest row, you ended up getting moved to lower level English class next door.
Robert and I used to do science experiments in our spare time, mixing up whatever chemicals we could find, or wiring up old radios to see what we could do.
Robert and I discovered our love of Science together.
When my mum and Dad needed some time alone together in the early seventies, Roberts parents (Brenda and Marshall) kindly let me stay with them for a while.
Bob was a ten pound pom like me, but he arrived in 1972. His family were from Nelson (near Manchester) in Lancashire. I actually visited Nelson in 1997 when Liz and I went back to the UK. Where their family moved to in Rosella Street Inala was much nicer than Nelson, although the view of some of the green hills around Nelson was quite pretty.
Bob and I used to ride our bikes down the bush and smoke cigarettes that Bob used to magically procure. He and his brother Graham were brilliant at soccer, and I think Graham actually went on to play it profesionally.
Bob was the main reason that I decided to go to Oxley State High School instead of Inala High or Richlands. That decision changed my life.
The schools in Inala were rough. As a result, most kids under achieved. I went to primary school at Serviceton South in Inala. I found it very difficult since I was younger than most kids in my class, and smarter than most of them. So in their jealousy they made life tough for me.
So Oxley High was a big step up for me.
I ended up being School Captian of Oxley High, and am very grateful that I did well academically, eventually being able to get into Uni.
It was at Oxley High that I eventually ended up getting mixed up in the church, which in a way was a good thing, because it’s how I got to meet my lovely wife, Liz.
So Bob, I owe you a hell of a lot, mate. You changed my life, and neither of us realized it at the time.
I am so glad I met both Robert and Bob, and I very much regret not keeping in touch with either of them.
