My father and I met at 4.45am to walk to the ANZAC shrine where the dawn service was to take place. There was the most incredible mixture of young and old. A friend of Dad's, Tony Charlton, has been hosting the event for over 30 years. His voice resounded over loud speakers, recounting snippets of soldier's stories, poetry and history. Tony's voice is clear and full of emotion, but so respectful and moving. It was an incredible experience standing amongst 40,000 people. The silences were heavy but the service was uplifting.
There was a shared companionship and respect that is hard to describe. Everyone there was deeply affected by the words, prayers and music (one pity is that the Welsh Choir sounded like they were strangling each other under water). I appreciated the time to reflect on both my grandfathers' great courage. My Australian grandfather was killed in the Fall of Singapore when Dad was only 2 years old. My English grandfather served in both World Wars only to die of a heart attack in his early 70s. I wish I had known these incredible men. It is so important to remember them and all of those who have fallen. Lest we forget.
I read in the paper the next day that a young boy, about 6 years old and at his first dawn service, went up to one of the old boys covered in medals and said, "Thank you for saving the world." The man replied, "You're welcome son. You just made my day." I am enjoying feeling immensely proud of my country. However, I can't say I am immensely proud of my father's football team - Collingwood aka The Magpies.
All the Macs covered themselves in black and white and went to the ANZAC day match against Essendon. I think the last time all four of us were at the footy together, might have been at the 1990 Grand Final when we beat the Bombers/Essendon. We had a nice lunch in the Harrison Room and Jack Pimm (a war veteran who played for the Magpies) was on our table as well as some other fun people. The crowd was so excitable and we had a monster match ahead. It was an amazing contest and I take full responsibility. In the last 5 minutes when we were a few goals ahead, I let myself relax and believe that we had it in the bag. The Bombers snatched the ball and escaped the jaws of defeat in the last 30 seconds. It was a very sad ending to a fantastic match. Both Dad and I had almost no voice by the end of it all.
I was absolutely shattered by the evening (post Sydney/dawn service/footy) but had to push on through for Hamish's birthday bash. We had such a fun night. All sorts of people showed up and the bar got absolutely packed. By midnight I was completely done in. Hame still doesn't believe me. I really did come home and crash. Promise!
For Hame's real birth date we had an incredible dinner at the Stoke House. It has the most delicious fish dishes and sits right on the ocean. Unfortunately it was bucketing down with the most intense rain, but it was fun being rugged up inside watching it pelt towards us.
I also had the pleasure of seeing an old school mate, Caroline Craig, walk the boards at The Arts Centre. Her play, The Bridesmaids, takes a long hard look at fidelity when two friends are forced to tell their friend, the blushing bride, that her man has been cheating on her - the night before her wedding. It stirred up some ferocious debate in the bar afterwards and I adored meeting Jacqui Weaver who plays the bride's mother. She is on her 5th husband (who joined us and is also an actor, Sean of the velvet voice) and had some pearls of wisdom to impart.
I saw an incredibly beautiful film with Mum called ELEGY, starring Penelope Cruz and Ben Kingsley. Gosh it's fun going on missions together again. We had the wind knocked out of us by the performances. It was an amazing experience and without ruining it for anyone who might read this and see it, be warned that it's very sad but so beautiful - it brought back many memories. I was gasping for air by the end.
There were only 6 people in the cinema as we went to a naughty afternoon session. When two of the women walked out, we recognised each other. One of the ladies was Kerry Gillespie, the mother of an old friend of mine called Alexis. Her father, Kerry's late husband, Wayne was one of Australia's most talented architects. It was harrowing to hear what she went through when he fell ill while on a trip in the Middle East. She had to spend 6 weeks looking after him in the most rudimentary hospital all by herself. He was too sick to move, but made a recovery and came back to Oz. Then cancer overtook his body. She is such an inspiration, as she now works in food kitchens and helps street kids.
I then had a wonderful visit to my parents' place in Flinders. I couldn't help watching the Collingwood match with Dad and this time we didn't get the Collywobbles. We beat North Melbourne convincingly and Leon Davis is my new hero. He is so small and cheeky and talented. He took a wonderful flying mark that was the highlight.
The weather at the weekend was flawless. The clearest, most divine Autumn days. Hame had organised with his great friend Jane Liscombe (Producer extraordinaire) to meet up at her parents' place in Mt Martha. We went on an incredible walk along the cliff to Mornington where we ate like kings and then explored the town. We ended up taking booze and chips and lollies (no dinner needed!!!) back to the house and dancing around singing at the top of our lungs. Livin' On A Prayer was the highlight.
Now I wish I had time to recount the Logies but I need to get on with my research into the screenplay that Hame and I are writing together. Next week I'm disappearing to Portsea to stay with an old friend and to write every day. Then Hame will come back from his American trip and rip it to pieces. Fingers crossed we end up with the start of something big. I have a great feeling about this story. I can't tell anyone about it yet, but watch this space.
Logies (the big TV awards) aftermath coming up shortly. I haven't quite recovered yet....
Lxxx
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