Dad and Stephen

Dad came from country Victoria. His family moved to Melbourne during the Great Depression, I think, but not sure when that was. It was after World War 11, where he served as a soldier in the Pacific, that he was stationed at Adamstown Barracks in Newcastle and met Mum. He was still in uniform when he met Mum at a dance. He left the army because the was was over. He worked in the fish markets in Newcastle, then the steel works as a shift worker. when we moved to Melbourne he worked in the Monbulk Jam factory. For three months during that job he stayed off work because he had put a steam hose used for cleaning, down his boot and burnt his foot. I remember him being at home and a nurse coming to the house. It was not a happy time due to his loud intolerance of pain. We were still living in the Dandenong Ranges at that time. He was also prone to leg cramps and would cry and groan constantly, limping and hopping up and down the dark corridor between the bedroom s and bathroom. I cried privately in sympathy at his terrible, loud moaning when his leg was cramped.

He worked in a clothing factory, then found a job driving a red van and collecting the mail from post boxes and taking it to the sorting depot. Everything was difficult for him and the stress of work put him in a bad mood always.

We went with him on his round once, Stephen and me. We sat on cushions in the back of the van and laughed ourselves silly, skidding around on the shiny floor. Then I wet myself so the cushions didn't slide wo well