School leaver, age 13. Endlessly resourceful. Gifted quilter. Snake killer. Violin player.
“Gran”, Dorothy, was a tough woman. Mother of four girls and survivor of multiple heart attacks and surgeries in her 60s to live into her early 90s, she was a role model for not only myself but my many cousins as we grew. All 17 of us loved her lightly crumbed lamb cutlets, grilled to golden perfection. We admired her perfectly painted nails and giggled at her two skinny plaits which always appeared at bedtime without fail to swap out the chic daytime bun. A trip through her fabric scrap baskets and boxes unearthed a treasure trove of goodies to play with. Her quilts took shape before our eyes, designs blossoming and growing. There was one for each grandchild.
Yet this inventive and capable woman was made to leave school aged just 13, to financially support her family. Despite receiving higher academic results than her brother, who was allowed to stay in school, as the girl she was expected to help provide. Her lifelong love of music let me to emulate her by learning the violin, and her commitment to reading and learning inspired me to go on with my studies and pursue my Masters.
She was endlessly resourceful, creating underwear from soldier’s silk parachutes during and after World War Two. Making a meal out of very little, for her family, was another attribute. Even in later life, this trait stood her in good stead; when in the kitchen one night pouring a glass of water, she found a deadly snake on the floor. Rather than pressing the staff call button built into her aged care facility cottage, she simply dealt with the unwelcome invader using her meat mallet, then waited until the morning to calmly notify the staff.
Despite being a woman of very few words of feeling, I always knew the depth of her love, even though I lived in a different country. While trips were few and far between, the time together was vividly memorable. I had the pleasure of introducing her great granddaughter to her a few months before she passed away.
-Laura H