Mum

There's so much I can say about mum. Christine was born in Tamworth, when her parents were passing through back in 1948. Her father was working on the dams around the Snowy Mountains at the time, which explains why she ended up at Wyangala Dam. I know her parents divorced before she married my father, because it was her mother's second husband that I've seen in old black and white photographs nursing me.

I don't know too much about the courtship between my parents, but I do know that mum had met dad when he was playing basketball on night. Dad was teaching at Wyangala at the time. When they got married in 1967, mum was only 19 and had to get permission off her mother. She told me once that she actually carried my father over the threshold, a story that's never been refuted!

Mum was a great seamstress, and had taught needlework classes at one stage. I have even seen a photograph of her modelling some of her creations. She was also a great cook, and had a number of jobs cooking in restaurants, at a private school in Tamworth and whilst the family owned a cafe in the main street. Her last job was as the kitchen supervisor of the local Meals on Wheels. On occasions she used to get me up there to do some of the paperwork and answer the phones.

She was very supportive of us. She loved getting involved we were doing sports, often cheering us quite loudly from the sideline. When I was playing for the open rugby league team at Peel High, she even harangued the coach for not giving me enough game time.

She was a carefree spirit, and often played practical jokes on people, especially when she went away on trips. I went on three special bus trips she organised, one to a State of Origin match in 1987, another to the World Expo in Brisbane in 1988, and another to the Melbourne Cup in 1990. One such memorable prank was played on the bus driver during the Expo trip. She filled a condom with milk, and placed it between a pair of apples in his esky. The look on his face when he opened it was priceless.

Mum was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer back in 1992. She was given a fair chance of survival, and the operation, at the time, was success, having removed the affected parts. However, in 1993 it was discovered that cancerous spores from the ovaries had migrated into the intestines, and this time the prognosis wasn't so good. Her health deteriorated so rapidly that my sister bought her wedding forward to January 1994, so desperate she was to have mum see her married. The wedding went off without a hitch, and mum passed away a couple of days later, surrounded by family and friends, and with her little lap dog Snuggles nestled beside her.

I gave the eulogy, and I honestly struggled to get through it. At her request we played a number of her favourite tunes that summed up her up so well. Tina Turner's Simply the best, Bon Jovi's Blaze of glory (she was cremated I should point out), and finally Doctor & the Medics version of Spirit in the sky. It indeed had been a great send-off.