David Howarth

Dear Gav,

It's has certainly been a while, and thought a blast from the past is in order!!

I hope my recounts give you a cracka of a smile and rekindle's the memory stick with some of the great times we had as young kids playing at Stanley Street or Saywell, making cubby houses in one of the rooms from chairs turned upside down covered with sheets and blankets, or swimming in the above ground pool. Playing cricket or footy in the backyard (or lounge room), and the good old "dress up box"!!!!! cowboys and indians or cops and robbers. And who could forget the countless rock shows or plays we all used to put on????

Boy, how time flies!!

How bout the convoy of bikes, scooters, skate-boards (or pogo stick if need be..) to transport us all to the corner shop for twenty cents worth of mixed lollies from Beryl, and without fail many a journey ended in a stack or two! (Go the scabbed knees and elbows!). How bout the late nights when just before bedtime we'd all decide to play the all time favourite.... "murder in the dark" and scare the crap out of ourselves. Then there were the Saturday mornings in pj's, sitting in bean bags with a bowl of coco-pops, watching the super flying fun show with miss marilyn, cartoons et al. BBQ's at Saywell street and your mum's famous spag bol! Thug - the dog, Clancy of the overflow, Tasha, yo-yo's, tree house, etcha-sketch, slinkies, GI-Joe, wacky races, and of course Sunday footy... it's just endless.

"Are we there yet?"... Remember the trip to Talbingo in your mum's Fiat wagon? I sure do.. there was you and Aya (Del hadn't hit the scene yet), Bob and I, Mozzie and Auntie Shirl. It seemed such a long drive with the famous catch phrase uttered every 10 minutes. It was bloody cold, but we kids were all lucky to get warm by swimming (and bombing each other) in the magical thermal pool (all that steam rising out from it - spooky stuff) and waking up in the freezing mornings and peeking out the window into what seemed a never-ending bushland to glimpse kangaroo's breathing heavy morning air, quietly sitting, watching and looking straight back at you! And trout fishing, not catching much but we were there together and having a great time. (Yes photos attached).

So you were born in a leap year!! Hmmm.. as a kid I thought it weird you only having one birthday every four years and what about the parties??? Well, your mum and dad sure made up for that!! You had the coolest of cool parties, however I think a fave was the one at Luna Park. Picture it.. the Big Dipper.. I was sitting next to your dad (you and Aya in front of us in the very first carriage), and as we were approaching the the big one, I was holding on to the railing so tight, eyes shut and holding my breath till blue, you guys had your hands in the air and screaming with laughter, then as we came over the peak into the down run, I let go of my hands and smashed my nose into the railing.. what a ride! After many, many rides later and filled up with pluto pups, fairy floss and coke we all decided to hit the Rotor for one last spin! Picture it.. the rubber door was sealed, everyone standing along the wall as the Rotor began to spin, the floor gave way and so did my stomach.. that poor person next to me stuck to the wall spinning, spinning covered in chuck chunda... what a ride! Anyhow, back to that leap year.. come on fess up, just how young are you?

Well, as a purveyor of family photos, I felt it my duty to slip in a few classics that I hope again bring both a smile and terrific memory to life for you. I treasure these and hope you will too!

Now down to the serious business.. I am deeply saddened to hear of your illness Gav and although not seeing you for some years, and as I read through these amazingly humorous and heartfelt blogs, I feel privileged to have been given a glimpse into your later life, a life that is a pure testament and inspiration to us all on how to live, which in turn has enriched all people around you. I'm thinking of you and your family now and always and wish you every best.

Thanks for the memories cousin Gav! God Bless and love you always.

- Dave