by Les Shipp
household but Uncle Frank was amused at the way Aunt Dolly lovingly polished and cared for it.
The children grew up with lots of drama, made it through their school years and on to their own lives. Aunt Dolly was pleased for them but missed having them around. They of course didn’t miss their old home as they were far too busy getting on with their own lives. When they did visit they brought their boisterous children with them and they didn’t give the vase a glance as it was always there. Aunt Dolly was aware of the vase during their visit as her precious possession was once more under threat. However the tough vase survived their rough handling.
As the years passed Uncle Frank died and left Aunt Dolly by herself in the rambling old house. The consolation for Aunt Dolly was that she had a lot of beautiful memories to look back on, and of course there was her precious vase that held its own set of memories known only to her.
Eventually Aunt Dolly became very old and frail, but still wanted to live on in her old home where she had spent the greater part of her life. Her children were much too busy to look after her so they offered me the job of being her career. Being unemployed and in my forties and single, I thought why not. I was very fond of my Aunt Dolly and she had always been kind to me. Caring for an elderly lady suited me fine as romance and a potential partner had eluded me.
Aunt Dolly loved to chat about the events in her life and being a romantic at heart I loved to hear about them. She had a wonderful full life and was ready to embark on her final journey when the time came. She had one big worry, because she felt that the children wouldn’t want her precious vase and it would probably end up in a junk shop. She called me to her one evening and asked me if I would take the vase and cherish it as she had done. I was surprised by this request as I looked upon the vast as a beautiful valuable object. She was very sure that this was what she wanted for her precious vase and had even put the gift to me in her will.
She took me by the hand and told me she wanted me to know the history of the vase. Aunt Dolly told me that as a young girl of sixteen she was very wilful, and had met a young handsome Captain who was attached to the Indian army. They had fallen madly in love and because of her age, marriage wasn’t possible so they decided to elope and return to India where his regiment was. They were a beautiful couple and fitted into life in India very happily. Life was a wonderful dream for them and they were inseparable. One day as they strolled through the bazar, Dolly spied this beautiful antique vase and it really looked special to her. Her Captain thought, what a fine anniversary present it would make and he quietly purchased it and had it sent to their quarters. Dolly was overjoyed when he presented it to her, as it represented his love for her as much as a beautiful vase.
Shortly after this her Captain was sent on a dangerous mission in which he was killed. Dolly was inconsolable and felt this is where her life ended. She wasn’t able to stay in India and consequently was sent home to her family in England. The family were not all that thrilled about her return as her elopement was a serious cause of embarrassment to them. They accepted her back on the proviso that this part of her life was never to be mentioned again. All she had left of that wonderful chapter of her life was her antique vase her Captain had given her. She did get on with her life and eventually married Uncle Frank, but the powerful loss inside her along with the antique vase stayed with her.
No one else knew the story about the vase so this is why she wanted me to have it and keep her great love safe for her. Time has passed now and that antique vase is sitting on my sideboard as I dream about Aunt Dolly’s memories, what a wonderful powerful love she had had.
A ROUGH DIAMOND.
I have met many rough diamonds in my life, maybe I can count myself as one of them. With a lot of polish most show a brighter side. One of the most notable rough diamonds I have come across was when I moved from Western New Wales to Tamworth. We had bought twenty-six acres just onside the town and I lived on the bare block in a 9+6 foot lean to tent by myself for six months while working as a fettler on the railway line.
My fellow fettlers, who were themselves rough diamonds, often verbally speculated on what I might get up to on my time off living by myself on the block. It suited their purposes one day when we were waiting at Kootingal railway station for a train to go through. I was in the waiting room looking at the posters when the mob outside became animated. They shouted, “Les here’s your chance.” Going out onto the platform and looking down the line where they were pointing, I saw in the distance a shapely lady in a very short tennis dress and she had a mop of blond hair. She was too far away to see her features but from the distance she looked ok. The men teased, “You’ve got it made now mate.” As the blond lady walked towards the group on the station, her features became visible, her long blond hair became a mat of long blond hair and by her face you could see she had been around the block a few times.
She was on her way to visit one of her men friends who owned the local garage. He was in his thirties, single, and his mum was in charge of his office, mainly to protect her son from marauding females. Only Blondie could have loved him because, day or night he would be covered in oil and grease. According to local gossip he did manage to escape his mum’s eagle eye on occasions and get together with Blondie. She was a woman in her late fifties perhaps and a well-known identity in the village. In the pub one night she was boasting about the power of her garage boyfriend. She stated he was the only man who had hurt her while making love. One of the characters in the pub piped up and said, “What did he do, did he tread on your toe love?”
She was often in trouble with the law and the police knew her well. The senior constables knew she wasn’t easily put in her place so if any arrests had to be done they would send their junior constables to do the job. As the junior constables dragged her off to the lockup she would shout, “I know what you’re after when you get me into the cell.” Causing much embarrassment to the young officer. On one occasion the police chased her down the street, and as Blondie wasn’t easily beaten, she clambered up a tree and as the young officer reached the base of the tree calling for her to come down, she pulled down her nickers and peed on him.
Blondie had a unique way of advertising. She had an old Holden car and on the back window she placed a large naked doll with her legs in the air. This outfit she used to park at the isolated truck stops. According to local gossip she did a good trade with the truckies.
It turned out that Blondie and her husband lived in a derelict house in the scrub a few miles past our block. Our children knew her as she would pass our block on her way to work. Our youngest son came rushing home one day with some news. “You know Blondie.”” Yes.”” Well she wears a flower in her hair sometimes.”” So”. “Do you know what that means?”” No”. “It means she is ready to mate”. Education for the young ones.
Blondie’s husband was another rough diamond. He was missing one eye and one leg. One day Alice received a phone call at her work from our eldest daughter saying there was a drunk man lying on the kitchen floor wanting bex powders and he had only grown one leg and one eye. He was duly removed by one of the men from her office who was working in that area. He had one trick that he caught me with. I was driving down the road one day when I spotted a man lying in the gutter. I pulled up and rushed around the front of the car to see if I could help him. By the time I got around to where he was he had gone, but not only gone, he was sitting up in the passenger’s seat of the car demanding to be taken into town. As he stank to high heaven and I was going that way I drove as fast as I could into town to unload this rough diamond.
Blondie had a beautiful daughter who was long gone from the family. She shall remain nameless but at the time she was on top of the hit parade, a very famous singer. She had become a polished diamond where poor Blondie never did. Blondie died as she lived and not a soul turned up to see her off. I hope she is at peace and now she has the polish she never had on this earth. A rough diamond who had never had a chance to be anything else.
; A LONG TIME AGO IN A FAR OFF PLACE.
Way back in 1958 I had just returned from traveling around Europe, the British Isles and Ireland for nine months. I thought it was prudent to get a job before I completely ran out of money. My bank balance was getting to a worrying level.
I arrived in London late in the week and was lucky enough to find a suitable flat, cheap in Earls Court which I was to share with five other young men. It was more of a large bedroom than a flat. It was on the third floor and the kitchen was on the first floor. The bathroom was a communal affair and down the hall from my room. The building was owned by the Down Under Club and all the residents were from Australia, New Zealand or South Africa. All the dweller would have been in their twenties or thirties so it was a fun place to be.
Having fronted up at the government employment office on the Friday I was told they didn’t have any rural work on their books but if I could start on the following Monday there was a job for me at Harrods department store. Any paying job would have done and I wasn’t aware of the enormous prestige Harrods of Knightsbridge had but I was soon to find out.
Arriving at Harrods on