Tuesday, December 2, 2008

7 Things

Thank you to the lovely Ewa over at Ewa in the Garden , the incredibly talented Clare, JJ & Susie Q. from Mondo Cherry & the gorgeous Ness at Marley & Lockyer for asking me to join in the 'Share 7 things about yourself' challenge.


The deal is: Share 7 things about yourself. Challenge other blogs at the end of your post through naming their blog, and post a link to it. Let them know they have been challenged by leaving a comment in their blog.


I've posted on a few life-changing Millie moments previously here & here & here so I'm not sure how riveting these observations will be, but here goes!



1. I joined the world on January 9th 1956. That makes me 52 & boy, have I got a lot more I want & need to do yet! My beautiful Mother said I was always a serious & quiet baby, no trouble really - gosh has that changed, just ask MOTH!




2. I was always Daddy's little Princess. Like Mel from the delightful MelsRosePlace, my parents were very late to parenthood, in fact my Dad was 23 years older than my Mum & he was 56 when I was born, but he was just the best Dad in the world. He'd had a very unhappy childhood, & had been a very independent & solitary man until my Mum 'found' him. They made an amazing couple & each evening at dinner he leant over the table, looked at my Mum & said to her 'Have I told you today how much I love you.' Smiling, she always tutt-tutted him, but I learnt very early that saying those 3 words openly & without embarrassment are what makes the world go round & round! To my great sorrow he died suddenly 4 weeks before I got married for the first time, so he didn't get to do the thing he'd been most looking forward to - walking his little Princess down the aisle.





3. I have one sister, younger by 2 years & we are from different planets - enough said!



4. As a little girl I was obsessed by Alice in Wonderland & frequently retreated into the mystical world that Lewis Carroll created & still do! I grew up in the Clare Valley & to my absolute joy, one year the end-of-year school play was, yes you guessed it & here I am in the starring role!



5. At the end of my second year of nursing training, my best friend the lovely P. & I headed off for 4 week holiday in New Zealand. We told our parents that we were going on an organised Bus Tour, but in actual fact, we hitch-hiked both islands. It was a life-changing experience, as at the age of 18, both of us met the Kiwi guys we both went on to marry. Here we are in Wellington, what was I thinking with the polka-dot head scarf & the Dr. Scholl sandals!



5. I met MOTH not long after this photo was taken in 1990. I think it was the high maintenance big hair that attracted him!



6. I've done the wedding thing twice, once when I was just 20 in 1976........

......and then again in 1995 at the more respectable age of 39. Sadly, my darling Mum died far too young in 1988, so never met the wonderful MOTH, but I know she would have just adored him as we all do.


7. I have been lucky to have travelled a lot with my work & over the years have sat next to some very interesting people on long-haul flights. Miss Lauren Bacall was without doubt, the most interesting, on a night flight from Tahiti to Sydney. She was every bit the movie star to the poor Qantas flight crew, but she was in the mood to talk, & talk she did - to me. I found her engaging, irreverent & incredibly funny. She wanted to know all about me, my life, my little boys at home & Australia. Like any other doting Mum, she pulled the family photos out of her handbag & proceeded to show me the lot. I was somewhat taken aback though, when she pointed out a man with a small child in one of the photos & said 'Oh, that's just a picture of my first husband Bogey, you might have heard of him.' I liked her immensely.


The other person who won my heart was John F. Kennedy Jnr. We sat together on a Chicago-Los Angeles flight that was delayed on the tarmac at O'Hare for an additional 3 hrs., so I had a lovely 9 hrs. with him, thank you very much! What a truly beautiful soul he was, so humble & self-effacing. Highly intelligent, extremely well-read & with the most exquisite manners, I was just mesmerised the whole flight. One of life's special moments that I'll never forget.


To continue the fun I'd like to hand the baton to:

19 comments:

  1. Lovely to know more about you Millie. xv

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my gosh. If I were to pick a handful of people to meet those two would definately be on my list! How wonderful you got to sit and chat with them. Isn't it fun reliving old times? I was so much better then. Well at least that's how I remember it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Millie...Love the photo of you and your dad. Did he make the bow for you? Thanks for letting us look through your shoebox full of pictures...Rosemary

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your father sounds just amazing! Beautifully done post!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your father sounds amazing! Beautiful post!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think you have had a great life Millie...how wonderful...your post gave me goosebumps in parts!! Am coming to your neck of the woods next week so if i see a lady with that big hair i will have to say "are you Millie?" lol although i am sure you have tamed it by now!
    Just a lovely insight today, thanks, Mel xxx
    p.s you must fly first class you lucky duck !

    ReplyDelete
  7. You obviously fly first class with the best airline Millie to get to meet people like that! What a great post. It has been so lovely reading everyones answers and to know a little more about those that we visit each day. Thanks for sharing.
    Ness xx

    ReplyDelete
  8. No wonder we hit it off. I am a first born, capricorn and a Daddy's Little girl too. I loved it, Millie. I have to climb into the attic and do some scrounging around for my photos. Then scan them in, wish I knew about this last week when I was up there digging out Christmas stuff. Heidi

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love seeing all these photos. We adored the Alice in Wonderland photo - you were obviously perfect for the role. What interesting travels you have had, I'm sure there are a lot more stories yet to be told! So enjoyed reading this great post.
    Clare

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great post Millie. Thank you for sharing! Like you, my mum lost her dad just before her wedding (six weeks) so she had a very miserable honeymoon. But a very happy marriage.
    Catherine

    ReplyDelete
  11. Millie this was a captivating post. I completely immersed myself in your life. You should write a book! It's a facinating read.

    Anna :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Vicki - thank you my dear & we are all waiting with great interest to see your 7 Things!

    Pat - you are still fine, don't be so tough on yourself my friend!

    Rosemary - I love that photo too. Actually it was my school teacher Mum who made that bow, she was such a whizz with all things crafty.

    Laurel - my darling Dad would be so chuffed with your comment - thank you!

    Mel - I need to put you right on 2 things here mate! The big hair has well & truly gone in favour of the conservative (read as boring!) blonde bob & I've only ever experienced First Class once. Was given a most unexpected up-grade, 'cos according to Qantas I was the only one from Business Class not wearing jeans!!

    Ness - hasn't it been fun, especially seeing your boys kilts!

    Heides - us Cappies rule the world! Get up to that attic now girl, as we all want to see your post pronto.

    Clare - yes, there's a few more stories yet, so be prepared to be bored witless!

    Catherine - so sad to hear your Mum experienced the same loss. Good to hear that the marriage has been so happy.

    Anna - if you can broker me a book deal there's a percentage in it for you. However, I think book sales would probably run @ less than 10, & 9 of those would be my ex-husband's lawyers preparing their defamation suit!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I just loved reading about you Millie. You are a soul who is lovely inside and out. The photos are great(and your mother is so classy and beautiful!)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Millie,

    I'm up for the challenge! I must admit I'm intimated by your "7 Things" I will have to dig deep! It was really interesting to get a little peek into your life! Amazing stories... :-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Millie - I read this post yesterday at work but didn't get a chance to comment and say - loved it! - The photos - brilliant, just gorgeous. thanks so much for sharing (and so jealous of your meeting with JFK Jnr!!) xx

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a beautiful post.. thank you... I love the second wedding dress.. so lovely... and I can live vicariously thru you having met Lauren and JFK junior.... oh my... and to find out they are as lovely as I hoped... you've made my day.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh Millie, what a lovely post you made! I loved to read it!
    it caught and kept my attention till the end. Enslish is not my native l., so sometimes I get easily distracted :)
    beautiful picture in a wedding dress...
    thank you.
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  18. I love hearing about your life Millie! What amazing experiences to look back on! Cute baby pic too! Tracey x

    ReplyDelete
  19. Tanya - what a sweet comment, & believe me the feelings mutual.

    Cathleen - I'm really looking forward to reading your post & I know you'll keep us all enthralled with your 7 Things.

    Miss K. - thanks so much for your lovely comments, you know I always love hearing from you.

    Diane - great you stopped by, & even happier to have met your expectations re Miss Bacall & John-John.

    Ewa - well, you can take responsibility for all this! You are a wonder getting through my ramblings without the help of Translator - you are a star girl!

    Tracey - delighted to hear you got something out of this post! I don't think my life has been anything special, just crammed a lot into it I guess.

    ReplyDelete

And none will hear the postman's knock
Without a quickening of the heart.
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?
~W.H. Auden

Related Posts with Thumbnails