by ib

Created on: November 12, 2009   Last Updated: December 03, 2009

When I was very small I lived with my two parents and older sister. My father worked in the local town, catching the ferry across the harbour to waste away as a book-keeper while my mother stayed at home cleaning and doing all the duties of a house-wife.

Our little ramshackle house overlooked the Pacific Ocean situated in a sea-side town called Stockton and I lived for the sea and sand. My mother, a kind and thoughtful woman spent most of her time quietly plucking around the garden, scratching at weed, divvying up the soil and exchanging tips with Sister Mary who lived next door. Some days she wore her favourite green and brown smock which due to her squat and plump physique gave the visual impression of an over-sized chicken running rampant through the flowerbed, made even more deliciously humorous when she sat on the front step chomping on cheese and crackers.

But for all this, my mother was a very wise woman and on days when I wasn't at school, when my sister Annabelle sat inside her nose stuffed in some book or atlas I would help my mother clip the hydrangeas that grew effortlessly quick beneath our windows and she would tell me about life. I cherished this time with her, and I learnt many lessons while plucking lemons from the tree down in the backyard or weeding, the garden though it was hers was shared with me as our own special commonality.

One day Annabelle and I returned from the beach to find my mother in the back garden sitting under the lemon tree waiting for us to return with a pitcher of lemonade. She called us over and we sat in our wet swimmers under the shade, as she poured a drink for each of us. I could tell mother had something to say and she started as she always did when we'd been swimming.
"Oh you look like you've had fun. Did you find any shells?" This was the same question she always asked us and like always Anna had brought back a handful of different things she'd found scattered along the shore line.
"Yes, Mama, I found a dried seahorse, a white piece of drift wood and these beautiful yellow, white and purple pipi shells - they look like butterflies" crooned Anna.
"Oh yes, they do. We'll have to make a mobile, what do you think? We can hang it above your bed." Of course Annabelle loved this idea and so ran off into the house to find the required items.
Then my mother turned to say "and how was your day Evie?" I told her all about the people on the beach and she listened very intently. "I wonder if Anna's gone into her room yet?"

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