MEET MY 70 YEAR OLD MUM

"I was fortunate to grow up in the 60’s and 70’s. There was a big social revolution happening then and the music epitomised it. There were so many fantastic groups, bands and singers, male and female, that it's hard to pick a favourite. I suppose I can name a few artists that I love: Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Rod Stewart, Janis Joplin, Cat Stevens to name a few. I loved the Kinks, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Troggs, the Zombies, Blind Faith, the Yardbirds, Canned Heat, Santana, Led Zepplin, the Small Faces, Manfred Mann, Sonny and Cher, but only one of their songs. The list goes on. I love to listen to my Spotify playlist because it has all my favourite songs on it. I was very lucky to grow up in those decades.

Every band that came out of the 60’s was good. We had so much choice and it was great. Mum and Dad tried hard to stop us from being caught up in it, but didn’t succeed."

"I think the 60’s was a social revolution, from boys having long hair and beards, to girls not wearing bras and wearing mini skirts. There was an excitement in the air - it sounds cliché I know, but there was.

I followed fashion that was surf culture not the mod culture that was coming out of England. In America everything was hippie. We had it here too but not as much. We were young, and free and loved it.

Everything was changing and you could feel it. In London, Germain Greer held street protests with thousands of women and young girls protesting about women's rights. Equal opportunity was all they wanted. I saw that on TV although I was too young to get involved."

"Every Sunday morning mum would go to church and us three children would go to Sunday school. One of the three pairs of shoes that I had was for Sunday school, and I had to polish them until they shone. The same with my school shoes. When we got home from Sunday school, we would have a baked dinner for lunch.

When I was 13, all my friends were going to the beach on Sundays and I wanted to go too. Mum would force me to go to Sunday school until one day I refused and we had a big argument. Dad intervened and told mum I could make up my own mind as I was old enough. I never went to Sunday school again.

Nor did I have a baked lunch again either, as I was at the beach eating chips with my friends."

"When I was in high school, if I wasn’t at the beach or working at my aunt's shop, I’d be up at my friend Ida’s place, or she would be at my place. We spent a lot of time together. We used to have our clothes made by a dressmaker (Mrs Hazelwood I think), so we would walk up to her place to pick up our items or for fittings. I designed my own clothes, and she would make them for me. I designed the dress I wore to Ida’s brothers wedding, and thought I looked great. I loved designing my clothes, until I started work and could afford to buy them instead.

Things changed when we started work, and we lost contact with each other. Some Saturday mornings Ida and I would catch the bus into Wollongong and go shopping in the boutiques, not to buy anything but to check out the latest trends. We would go to a cafe and have coffee and cake and thought we were so grown up. Innocent, fun filled times."

"Until I was 10 I wanted to be a teacher or an opera singer. Don’t ask me why I thought I could be an opera singer because I don’t know, but I used to dress up in mum’s old dresses and go out to the front verandah and sing.

Straight out of school I worked at a chemist for a few months until I got a job as a clerk at Shellharbour Council. I worked at the front desk with another girl and we took all monies for council. I worked there for 2 years, and left to go to New Zealand backpacking with some friends.

In 1974 when I came home, I applied for a shop assistants position at Tramp’s Boutique in Wollongong and got it. I loved that job as it was a great fashion house. I earned $70 dollars a week, but if we sold $1000 worth of clothing a week we got a $3 commission. I earned that commission all the time and even had customers ask for me when they came into the shop."

"I would say to my 20 year old self now: go back to school and get a career. That way you can do what you want, be it travel, buy a house, anything and you won’t be dependent on anyone else.

I didn’t have a lot of career options when I was young. Women only had a few choices such as a nurse, teacher, secretary, shop assistant, or get married. I had no advice about staying at school or getting a career. A matter of fact, my dad told me to go out and get a job. I wish I hadn’t done that, but had stayed at school.

I would also say - don’t take things too seriously, as life is for living and the serious stuff will come later. Have fun and enjoy yourself."

"I think that today, women's lib has gone too far, and equal opportunities are still an issue.

Women of today should thank their 60’s sisters, but instead they think of us as ‘old fogies’ who know nothing.

Never mind, every generation thinks theirs is the best, but I know mine was."