This is Uncle Alf with his sister on the left and his sister-in-law on the right (my grandmother). This was taken in 1987 at a family reunion.
My sister printed the photo for me and must have cropped others out as I can see other people standing behind with their arms folded in a photo taking pose.
This photo must have been taken shortly before my grandma had her first of two strokes. She was a smoker but used to hide it from Uncle Alf. Whenever she visited us on the farm and my nana was there, nana would offer my grandma a cigarette. Not in front of Uncle Alf though. I can understand why you would hide smoking from your parents when you’re young, and maybe your children when they’re young, but your brother-in-law? This highlighted the difference between my nana and grandma. Nana was the rebel and grandma the more strait-laced CWA type woman.
I mentioned in a previous post that Uncle Alf and grandma shared a house together (as far as I know that was it). As kids my two sisters and I would sometimes stay overnight at their place. It was always very strong in routine at their place. At night time grandma would be sitting in her chair usually doing some knitting and Uncle Alf would sit in his chair and they would both watch television. They always watched the ABC news at 7pm.
In the morning Uncle Alf was always up early and he prepared breakfast for us. They had a huge backyard that was Uncle Alf’s domain. He grew heaps of vegetables and had ducks and chickens which ultimately ended up on the kitchen table as a roast. After breakfast we would help Uncle Alf feed the animals and it was always exciting to see the baby chicks and ducklings.
Grandma would quite often be baking when Uncle Alf was doing his thing and we would get to taste fresh bread or cakes. I always liked between meal snacks at their place because it was nearly always something homemade.
After I left home and moved to the city I would always pop into see Uncle Alf and Grandma on my visits home, and then it was just Uncle Alf after Grandma died of her second stroke.
Uncle Alf had a heart attack and he never really recovered from it. I drove over to visit him in hospital and I’m glad that I did because he soon had another fatal heart attack.
He left me, my two sisters and our three cousins his estate which enabled me to do a bit of work on the house and the rest went towards my trip to the UK in 2000. As my lifelong souvenir (JJ) was a result of this holiday, I ‘blame’ Uncle Alf for helping me with the means to get over there. I wonder what he would think of it all?
