Yesterday we attended the funeral of one of the most gracious ladies I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Mrs. Beach lived on the neighbouring property at Julia Creek. DH's parents moved to Julia Creek in 1958. DH was two years old and his brother was a babe in arms. They had moved from southern Queensland to the north west and it was a HUGE move for them. They were instantly welcomed into the area by their neighbours, Jack and Myra and there two sons. DH has recalled a wealth of memories of the two families enjoying picnics, bush race meets, Christmas's, New Years, birthdays, anniversaries....all spent together.
My mother and DH's mother lived thousands of kilometres away from us so when our boys came along Mrs. Beach "adopted" them as her own grandchildren. Such a selfless, and beautiful thing to do. She never forgot a birthday and the boys loved visiting her. She always had little treats for them whether it was lollies or her famous snowballs.
I remember fondly her wonderful contagious laugh. She would laugh so easily and and that was just one of a hundred things that I loved about her.
She was passionate about her tennis and encouraged all of us "girls" to attend Ladies Day tennis in Julia Creek. I loved those Friday mornings. It gave my boys a chance to play with other kids and it was great to have a gossip with the other girls!
And who could ever forget the cocktail parties that Mr and Mrs Beach hosted at the Sedan Dip Picnic race meeting. Mrs Beach would cook for months beforehand and only enlisted the help of a select few. She was quite particular about the way things should be done. I learnt so much about catering from Mrs. Beach. The cocktail parties were by invitation but Mrs Beach would make sure that EVERYBODY that attended the race meeting got an invitation!
Mrs Beach has not been well for a long time and I guess some would say that it was for the best that she has now "moved to the room next door" to be with the love of her life, Jack. For me personally it feels like the end of an era and I will miss her greatly.
No comments:
Post a Comment