My family was on holidays up on the south coast of New South Wales, at our holiday house at a place called Mollymook. (This turned out to be the place to which my dad retired in 1994.)
My uncle picked me up from the station, and I had my large pack. I was wearing my furry boots (a must for the Armidale NSW weather), and my long, long blue-and-white scarf.
I came into the kitchen of our place to find a couple of letters - no presents, mind you, but letters.
I opened them and this is what I found.
I think at that stage I even had the British Airways bag with me too. Not a bad assessment of what I would probably look like upon arrival. I thought "mmm, cluey girls..."
I opened up the larger letter that had this on the cover
Inside, my clever sisters Helen and Jane had written the following poem:
Happy Birthday, Billy Dear,
You seem to have them every year.
And still we faced the same enigma;
A Porche, a Citroen, or a Sigma?
You see, our problem seemed to lie
In just which model should we buy.
We strained our brains, but all in vain,
So sorry Bill, no car again.
But don't despair; all is not lost.
We considered buys of similar cost.
Pink Batts, perhaps, just like a doona
(it would get you out of bed much sooner).
But then we thought, "Let's spoil the boy -
Hedgeclippers are a marvellous toy."
"He'd do our hedge, perhaps Cy's too..."
But too much fun's not good for you.
Paint and brush? Artistic touch
Would brighten Betty's walls so much.
Yet still we did not think we knew
That special present, right for you.
We sat and thought for night and day;
No inspiration came our way.
So unattainable seemed our quest
Our doctor ordered well-earned rest.
"It's dangerous, you know," he said
"To do your thinking out of bed."
Our conditions now are so severe
In ambulance we'll rush from here,
To better climate; by the sea.
We'll lie in bed and sip our tea.
Our minds relaxed, our senses dull,
We'll mollymook and mollymull.
And as we both recuperate
We'll sit, and think, and cogitate.
But do not fear, we will take care:
We'll stay in bed, and think in there.
And not too hard, and not too long
But by the sea, we can't go wrong.
If by chance a lightbulb shines,
We'll turn it off and go back to sleep.
(no we won't - Helen wrote that.)
And if by chance a lightbulb shines,
And brightens up our little minds,
The ideal gift we'll send to you
You'd better like it when we do!
Well, bye for now, it's time for bed
(Remember what the doctor said)
Hugs and kisses, Happy B,
See you when you're twenty-three.
Well, Jane and Helen did actually give me a present. And of course they wrote another poem to go with it. Click here to see it.