The postbox gets cleared once a week. I've had it for over twenty years. It used to make sense to have one, especially as I live in an area where mail theft is rife. Now that I rarely get mail, it feels like an expensive luxury for something that gets little use. But it is peace of mind, and I do share the costs with the my Freemason's lodge, as all mail is directed that way instead of sitting in an empty building for weeks on end.
On Wednesday, I found an envelope addressed in an unknown hand. It was sent from Brisbane. Envelopes don't get postmarks any more, rather a strip of yellow tape with a barcode. That takes all of the romance put of receiving mail.
Inside the envelope was a note and some photos.
The note reads, "Dear Panda, Thought you might like these to bring back memories. We have also kept copies. Love, Noelle and Peter."
Family friends. Family friends who I still keep in touch with. Uncle Pete had a job which took him all around the world - and Australia. He used to drive really cool things about the place - he was the transport industry and could drive anything. Uncle Pete has dropped me off at school in everything from a Mac truck, to a new coach, to a ute.
Uncle Pete still gives me a call when he comes to Melbourne. We have lunch at the IKEA canteen just down the road. When I was last in Brisbane, I had lunch with Noelle and Peter.
They're friends you keep. They've known me since my birth some 55 years ago.
The photos were taken in the early 80s. I reckon it was around 1983-4. The house renovations were going on at the time.
They're your normal, run-of-the-mill 80s photos. Sepia toned with age. Candid. Slightly out of focus.
The first is of my sister, my Mum, Sheba the dog, and me. We're in driveway of the house. Mum has a perm. I have something that looks like a fringe. I would have got rid of that well quick. My sister is in a track suit up the top of the driveway.
I'm still wondering why I thought myself the fattest and ugliest girl in the world at the time. I have no hips. My legs go on forever. I've pretty much had the same haircut for 50 years. Who knew?
The second photo is of my sister, our pony, Pebbles, and Noelle and Peter's daughter, Bec. She's now a mum of two living in Brisbane.
We loved Pebbles, not that I was a into riding. She was a lovely pony.
There was a photo of when we were doing the renovations. That would have been around 1984.
And then there was this photo of Mum. She's asleep with a hydrangea in her hand. Mum can still fall asleep anywhere and at any time and putting things in her hands when as she sleeps is a bit of a family running joke.
I have to thank Noelle and Peter for sending theses down. I have so few photographs of myself, it's strange seeing some.
The photos will be taken back to Mum for her records - probably best to keep them in one place.
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