I can still picture in my mind every corner, every single nook and cranny, of my grandparent’s home at 11 Testar Grove, North Caulfield. Triggers abound relating to loss– and here is one of them; found recently while cleaning out an old filing cabinet in my shed--a lonely folder containing my notes for ‘Economics 101’, studied at Monash University in 1966. (Arch folders weren’t the go ‘back in the day’.)
To further set the scene for the loss, some treasured photographs of my grandparent’s house – my grandparent's house at 11 Testar Grove; my grandparents in front of the closed in back verandah, my grandfather holding my brother, just near the bungalow where my parents lived after the war before moving to their war service home in Clayton; also in the backyard, my grandfather clipping the back hedge, not far from the shed, the compost heap, and also - take note - the incinerator!
To further set the scene for the loss, some treasured photographs of my grandparent’s house – my grandparent's house at 11 Testar Grove; my grandparents in front of the closed in back verandah, my grandfather holding my brother, just near the bungalow where my parents lived after the war before moving to their war service home in Clayton; also in the backyard, my grandfather clipping the back hedge, not far from the shed, the compost heap, and also - take note - the incinerator!
The incinerator at 11 Testar Grove was used for many purposes for almost 60 years; and in early 1977, while I was overseas, was the scene of an event of great personal significance.
In late 1976, my beloved, widowed grandmother, increasingly frail, moved to live with my mother, and her home at 11 Testar Grove North Caulfield was prepared for sale. My mother accepted the well-intentioned offer from Leila and May, friends from the War Widows group at the Clayton RSL, to help her clear and clean the house ready for inspection. I can just imagine the scene, my mother taking Leila and May out to the back yard, showing them the bungalow and asking them to clean it out.
To further set the scene, the bungalow contained boxes of my belongings. At the time of my grandmother’s passing, I was living in Spain. Although unsure that I would return to teaching, I had stored my valued university notes and the teaching resources from my first five years of teaching in the bungalow until my return.
The ‘long and the short of it’ - Leila and May, bless their hearts, with apparently little understanding that the notes might be of value to me, took the boxes out to Poppa’s incinerator and burnt the contents in Poppa’s incinerator!
A ‘book burning’ of quite some significance to me!
For some unknown reason, perhaps it was elsewhere at the time, ‘Economics 101’ survived and was found. And it was probably my least favourite subject! I would love to be able to read through later years Economics subjects, and my Dip Ed notes, even today…
Back to the present! I am currently clearing out my house at 61 Monds Avenue, ready for inspection. Almost fifty years later, I’m facing the decision, what to do with my old ‘Economics 101’ notes. Is it ‘time for them to go’? Should I take them with me to my independent living unit at Cooinda?
You may understand my dilemma, given the unresolved grief I still appear to have for the ‘lost and not found’, incinerated boxes of my university notes and teaching materials in 1977!
There hasn’t been an incinerator at 61 Monds Avenue for a long time, so I can’t physically incinerate the folder and its contents. My other options? To take it to my sister’s farm at Molyullah to be burnt on a fire, to bury it in the garden in a ritual laden ceremony, or to put it in the next Yellow Bin.
At this stage, while resisting to the end, I’m leaning towards the Yellow Bin as my preferred option - at least the paper might be recycled!
Bev Lee
August 2024
In late 1976, my beloved, widowed grandmother, increasingly frail, moved to live with my mother, and her home at 11 Testar Grove North Caulfield was prepared for sale. My mother accepted the well-intentioned offer from Leila and May, friends from the War Widows group at the Clayton RSL, to help her clear and clean the house ready for inspection. I can just imagine the scene, my mother taking Leila and May out to the back yard, showing them the bungalow and asking them to clean it out.
To further set the scene, the bungalow contained boxes of my belongings. At the time of my grandmother’s passing, I was living in Spain. Although unsure that I would return to teaching, I had stored my valued university notes and the teaching resources from my first five years of teaching in the bungalow until my return.
The ‘long and the short of it’ - Leila and May, bless their hearts, with apparently little understanding that the notes might be of value to me, took the boxes out to Poppa’s incinerator and burnt the contents in Poppa’s incinerator!
A ‘book burning’ of quite some significance to me!
For some unknown reason, perhaps it was elsewhere at the time, ‘Economics 101’ survived and was found. And it was probably my least favourite subject! I would love to be able to read through later years Economics subjects, and my Dip Ed notes, even today…
Back to the present! I am currently clearing out my house at 61 Monds Avenue, ready for inspection. Almost fifty years later, I’m facing the decision, what to do with my old ‘Economics 101’ notes. Is it ‘time for them to go’? Should I take them with me to my independent living unit at Cooinda?
You may understand my dilemma, given the unresolved grief I still appear to have for the ‘lost and not found’, incinerated boxes of my university notes and teaching materials in 1977!
There hasn’t been an incinerator at 61 Monds Avenue for a long time, so I can’t physically incinerate the folder and its contents. My other options? To take it to my sister’s farm at Molyullah to be burnt on a fire, to bury it in the garden in a ritual laden ceremony, or to put it in the next Yellow Bin.
At this stage, while resisting to the end, I’m leaning towards the Yellow Bin as my preferred option - at least the paper might be recycled!
Bev Lee
August 2024
