Confessions of a Free Range Prolapsed Catholic

One of my favourite movies is “a Time to Kill”. It stars Matthew McConaughey. To me, he is this generation’s Clint Eastwood. The movie tells of an horrific rape of a little Afro-American girl aged about 6 or 7 by a group of deadbeat racist white trash in the South. The father of the little…

In my 30’s I read a book titled “The White Chrysanthemum changing images of Australian Motherhood” .It was a collection of stories selected by Nancy Keesing published in 1977, the year before the arrival of my third child. I recently found a copy on line and I am salivating at the prospect of getting it…

From another State, another one is on his way, Hard to believe but another young man in the gene pool has collected L plates, with suction cups, and is on his way to taking control of the driver’s seat! When I first saw the picture, sent by his beautiful Mum to my iPhone I wondered…

It was October 24th, 37 years and about 8 days ago. First born male child arrived on October 24th, 1972. He was ( and remains) spectacular! Clever, interested in history fascinated by words, voice like an angel, taller than every other boy in his class, he had a lot of “who do you think you…

In recent days I have been distracted from pandemic mania by a blast from the past. Double vaccinated, assured my husband who is up for heart procedure in a couple of days in COVID Free, an invitation to join a facebook page about the school I worked at as a first year our teacher, beginning…

It was my first year of teaching. Non elective music was the thing that, to people in the know, was an absolute necessity for all students from first form to fourth form. I do not remember the exact allocation of hours but somehow in my very first year of teaching I ended up with 9E7…

Its all a bit much! Living life on the pause button is starting to get to me! BUT at least I live in Australia. I wince and complain about the inconvenience of it all. Can’t go out. Gotta get groceries delivered. Gotta purchase on line. Gotta FaceTime my kids and their kids. Gotta listen to…

“Hold fast to you dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly” Langston Hughes My dreams are back but they are older and without much hope. They render me weeping in my sleep. When they wake me, I am agitated. I am frightened. I am lonely. Since retiring I…

Today is August 1st 2021. At 2 am I turned 70. I am now up there in “most vulnerable Australians” cohort! And proud of it! Not only that I am among the 70% of the most vulnerable cohort in the country who is vaccinated, indeed I am double vaccinated. I should get a medal or…

I grew up in a home where every weekday evening, after dinner and the rosary, Mum would retire to the kitchen table with a deck of cards for a game of patience or a newspaper to do a crossword, and the older kids would retire to their homework, the younger kids to bed ,perhaps after…