…..in 1935, my grandparents married, in 1958, Madonna was born, in 1969 my mother and father were engaged and of course for all you Catholics out there, lapsed and otherwise, today is the Feast of the Assumption whereby Mary Mother of God, the Madonna , the Virgin Mother, Lady on a Donkey looking for a room landed in heaven to be reunited with her magician son and the husband she'd never met. What a cocktail hour that would have been. Awkward.
My grandparents (my father's parents) were married in the weatherboard bush chapel of St Mary's at Christmas Creek (sth east Queensland); a church which had been built by my great grandfather 40 years earlier when he and his eight brothers arrived from Ireland.
Nana was 29 and in those days was almost considered an old maid when she got married. Mickey wasn't exactly young either at 37. Nana and her bridesmaid, her sister Evelyn were supposed to come to the Church in the local priest's car but it ran out of fuel half way there. So Ev and Nana had to catch a ride on the back of the milk truck; quite ironic considering she was marrying a dairy farmer. Nana always said it could have been worse ….she could have arrived on a cow.
1935 was similar to this year in Australia. The winter was cold and the country was just coming out of the worst drought on record (although Australia is always coming out of the worst drought on record). It was also the middle of the depression and the countryside was awash with the unemployed looking for work. The morning of the wedding there was the biggest frost seen in years. The whole countryside was covered in white turning into a winter wonderland. The wedding had to be held at 9am so that everyone (being dairy-farmers) could get home to milk the cows at 3pm; my mother experienced a similar time constraint with her wedding 36 years later although thankfully she didn't have to rely on a milk truck to get her there. Nana wore a typical 1930s wedding gown full of lace and silk together with a cloche hat…..which always made most women in the 1920s and 30s look like Amelia Earhart flying her plane over the Atlantic. My nana was no different except that she added a lace veil to the cloche hat. There must have been a sale on lace at Enright's (the local department store) that year as all the pics from the wedding have not only the bride but all the female guests covered head to toe in lace. Following the wedding, the veil was converted into a lace tablecloth for the "good room" and consequently adorned the dining room table for many a Christmas dinner, baptism and wedding anniversary for the next 59 years…… as well as myself and my attempts as a 6 year old to impersonate Princess Di at her wedding to Charles.
Mickey passed away just shy of their 60th wedding anniversary. He was 97. Nana lived for another five years. They were very ying and yang. Nana had a big loud voice with an Irish whisper that could travel for miles. On a good day, as kids growing up in Christmas Creek, if the wind was blowing in the right direction we could here Nana talking on the phone at her place 6 kms across the creek from where we lived. Mickey on the other hand, was quiet, read his papers, watched the news and said the Rosary. He was happy as long as he had his rice pudding once a day….his favourite dish. Nana lived on the phone and loved Neighbours and Home and Away. She is still the only 80/90 something year old I know who had albums by Madonna, Abba and Kylie; she wasn't always too sure about Madonna but the Queen of Pop scored extra points for being a mick and being born on the Feast of the Assumption. If Nana didn't have anything nice to say about someone, she used to always say: "Haven't they got lovely teeth?". Madonna's gums were mentioned a lot followed by "I hope she says her prayers".
C
My grandparents (my father's parents) were married in the weatherboard bush chapel of St Mary's at Christmas Creek (sth east Queensland); a church which had been built by my great grandfather 40 years earlier when he and his eight brothers arrived from Ireland.
Nana was 29 and in those days was almost considered an old maid when she got married. Mickey wasn't exactly young either at 37. Nana and her bridesmaid, her sister Evelyn were supposed to come to the Church in the local priest's car but it ran out of fuel half way there. So Ev and Nana had to catch a ride on the back of the milk truck; quite ironic considering she was marrying a dairy farmer. Nana always said it could have been worse ….she could have arrived on a cow.
1935 was similar to this year in Australia. The winter was cold and the country was just coming out of the worst drought on record (although Australia is always coming out of the worst drought on record). It was also the middle of the depression and the countryside was awash with the unemployed looking for work. The morning of the wedding there was the biggest frost seen in years. The whole countryside was covered in white turning into a winter wonderland. The wedding had to be held at 9am so that everyone (being dairy-farmers) could get home to milk the cows at 3pm; my mother experienced a similar time constraint with her wedding 36 years later although thankfully she didn't have to rely on a milk truck to get her there. Nana wore a typical 1930s wedding gown full of lace and silk together with a cloche hat…..which always made most women in the 1920s and 30s look like Amelia Earhart flying her plane over the Atlantic. My nana was no different except that she added a lace veil to the cloche hat. There must have been a sale on lace at Enright's (the local department store) that year as all the pics from the wedding have not only the bride but all the female guests covered head to toe in lace. Following the wedding, the veil was converted into a lace tablecloth for the "good room" and consequently adorned the dining room table for many a Christmas dinner, baptism and wedding anniversary for the next 59 years…… as well as myself and my attempts as a 6 year old to impersonate Princess Di at her wedding to Charles.
Mickey passed away just shy of their 60th wedding anniversary. He was 97. Nana lived for another five years. They were very ying and yang. Nana had a big loud voice with an Irish whisper that could travel for miles. On a good day, as kids growing up in Christmas Creek, if the wind was blowing in the right direction we could here Nana talking on the phone at her place 6 kms across the creek from where we lived. Mickey on the other hand, was quiet, read his papers, watched the news and said the Rosary. He was happy as long as he had his rice pudding once a day….his favourite dish. Nana lived on the phone and loved Neighbours and Home and Away. She is still the only 80/90 something year old I know who had albums by Madonna, Abba and Kylie; she wasn't always too sure about Madonna but the Queen of Pop scored extra points for being a mick and being born on the Feast of the Assumption. If Nana didn't have anything nice to say about someone, she used to always say: "Haven't they got lovely teeth?". Madonna's gums were mentioned a lot followed by "I hope she says her prayers".
C
3 comments:
What a lovely story!
of course madonna says her prayers. she's even made a video about saying them :-)
I love this snapshot of people long ago and far away from me but always close to your heart.
Madonna's older than me by two months so nyah, nyah, nyah.
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