‘Love’
One instant that has always stuck in my mind is a story of motherly
love.
My own mother told me about my Auntie Bessie Mackay (nee
Elizabeth Walker Pearce) who was my father’s cousin. (My
1st cousin X 1 removed)
With her first pregnancy, she delivered twins. They were both so tiny
that she was told to keep them in the kitchen, with the kettle boiling
continuously and the doors shut. The only hope for either to survive.
A mammoth task – both day and night. She did this with hope and
love and
along with the extended family praying for the new babies, one baby
was able to survive. He grew into a healthy very tall man and would
be about 85 now, as he was born around 1934.
Auntie Bessie and her husband Uncle Willie (William Alexander
Mackay) both had very strong Scottish accents that they never
lost. They went on to have three girls and another boy. Later when
researching, I learned that Uncle Willie had twin sisters 13 years
younger than him - Willamina and Margaret, who were born on 04
Apr 1909. Only Willamina survived and she lived until 1999, dying at
90 years of age.
Auntie Bessie was a darling and when I had my first child she came
up and lived with us for a while helping Dad and Mum prepare the
market garden produce for the Sydney Markets and local sales. She
loved my baby daughter and sang and rocked her for hours.
Auntie Bessie would have to have been the most prolific knitter in our
extended family. She had a big suitcase where she kept pre-knitted
items. She would let me select an item for my girls when I visited her.
We called her Gran Bessie, as she was just like a grandma to my
firstborn and then the others.
I also remember that she always bicycled everywhere she
went, including her place of work, the cafeteria at the Shepparton
Sale Yards. Even when she was elderly, she had an exercise bike to
ride. She made real Scottish shortbread that we all loved. At the
side of their house in Drummond Rd, Shepparton was a blood plum
tree. How I relished those delicious dark juicy fruit - the best plums I
have ever had.
I do have a better photo tucked away somewhere - when I find it I shall replace this little one taken in about 1954.
RIP Gran Bessie.
