Tags
"A Kid from Kogarah", "Great Expectations", Blue Mountains, Carss Park, Faithful Remnant, Fear of Flying, Great Ocean Road, Kogarah Bay, Manly, Pearly Gates
The day after tomorrow will be a big day for me. Every two years I return to visit family and friends in Australia. This is the third time I will be accompanied by a granddaughter and her family, to celebrate her tenth birthday. My first trip home, after an absence of seventeen years, was in 1981. Will this be, at age 80, thirty-six years later, my last ? The question augments the anticipation and excitement for what may be my final flight.
No, I am not afraid of flying. Have had a scare or three in my time, but my job as a trainer of managers in a multinational corporation took me to the U.S., countries all over Europe and some in Asia, so often, that even the long haul Down Under, twenty hours in the air, does not make me wonder whether my plane will crash but what latest movies it is offering.
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder”. “Anticipation is the greater part of pleasure”. The clichés apply. I do wonder whether this trip will live up to my Great Expectations. Biennial family reunions imply encounter with the phenomenon of growing up – and growing older. Some of the younguns will now share the champagne, as we fête the arrival of newborn Arabella, the latest addition to the clan of which I have become patriarch-in-waiting (my brother-in-law is a nicely-preserved nonagenarian). All three of my brothers and one of my sisters, present at previous parousias, will not be attending this one. Equally absent from other gatherings will be schoolmates and confreres no longer available to share nourishment and nostalgia at our Sans Souci luncheons and Franciscan Chapters of Mat(e)s (exegesis on request). Catching up on news from survivors and the Faithful Remnant will involve surprises, pleasant and unpleasant. It will be no surprise for family and friends to discover that I have not improved since last time.
We look forward to events like these. Some others we dread. Anything, we say, could happen and probably will. I will be discovering places I’ve never seen before, like Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, and revisiting places I have known and loved since I was a Kid from Kogarah in the forties and fifties, like N.S.W.’s Blue Mountains and above all the ‘Arbour, the Quai, the Bridge, the ferries and Manly, seven miles from Sydney and a thousand miles from care.
For all sorts of reasons, this could be my last trip home (though I have a strong feeling it won’t). It is certain at least that I won’t need all the fingers on one of my hands to count the maximum. I am resigned to the fact of both the end of my career as a traveler – and as a pilgrim and stranger on this earth. When I first left Australia in 1964 to study Theology in Paris, I had no idea what the future would hold. I did know – surprise, surprise ! – that one day I would die. The difference now is that I now know that when I do, that will be it ! I no longer anticipate meeting Peter at the Pearly Gates. I will settle for meeting Arabella at Carss Park on Kogarah Bay.
RIDENDA RELIGIO
stephenbrodie said:
Good post Frank. I hope you have a great trip and reunion with the family. I know by experience that they can be fraught with angst. Safe trip Stephen.
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frankomeara said:
Thank you, Stephen. Arrived safely, rough ride approaching Singapore. Saw two movies,” “Kong” and “Live”. The Kong we used to know atop the Empire State was a miniscule monkey compared with this monster. John Goodman, of former considerable avoirdupois, has, on the contrary, shrunk to acceptable proportions. “Live” will give you second thoughts about going to Mars looking for life.
Got her name wrong : it’s ARabella. Will meet her at the Family picnic tomorrow. Trouble is it’s Winter here; temperature expected : 26°C.
F.D.U. (Frank Down Under)
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stephenbrodie said:
Its our summer here in the UK its 24c so don’t complain its winter with you, haha
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frankomeara said:
If you want to keep your friends, they say, never, NEVER, talk about religion or politics. That’s, of course, ALL I do. The weather is most people’s favorite subject. It’s not mine, and different from my favorite subjects, there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. But, indeed, I’m not complaining about the cool, sunny days I am enjoying in Sydney. You will be pleased to learn, Stephen, that yesterday we visited the magnificent Queen Victoria building. Though an Australian Republican and far from a royalist, I marked the occasion by playing on the available Steinway my one-fingered version of “God Save the Queen”, though I believe in neither.
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Amy Green said:
Delightful post friend Frank, which I enjoyed reading as I caught up on your July activity during my 2.5 week holiday back at my own homestead, divinely void of internet for the majority of the stay. Your words hit home to me as I myself enjoyed many reunions (skipping the 40 year and much-anticipated high school one for personal reasons not to be shared in a public posting…) and wondering if there will be a next time of swimming at the family river cabin, enjoying a many pot-luck meals, lots of laughing, playing card games, reliving memories, making new ones, with my aunts, uncles, cousins etc. You and I share many things, and making it a priority to make the trek homeward bound is one of them, and worth every penny, every moment in very long flights (yours much longer than mine!) There will always be a last time, but isn’t it wonderful to add another one, and kudos to you Frank for making this happen for your grandchildren. They will never forget these special trips, these one-on ones, and you are giving them the best legacy of all – time shared and a sense of belonging of where they too come from. Enjoy every minute!
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frankomeara said:
Thank you, Amy. We are both lucky to have families to go back to. I am particularly committed to fostering a French Connection with my home-country. “Rellos” Down Under have once again welcomed me and their French cousins in ways that would indicate that the link will last, and long outlive me.
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stephenbrodie said:
Sad thing frank Australia is more likely to become a republic than the UK. But one day that will change.
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