#52 Ancestors 2020
Week 39 Should Be a Movie
In 2014 my family made a movie.
The movie was conceived as a way of showcasing and celebrating
my mother’s 90 years, and it had its premiere at the party held for her
birthday in December, 2014.
The idea was that, in the early months of 2014, we would
take Mum to all of the significant places in her life and film her there,
talking about people and events that had made an impression on her. Various
family members would attend each place and hold the camera and ask the
questions, although it was never difficult to get Mum to tell a story.
A large crowd of family and friends came together for the party. A huge screen was set up across the courtyard.
Then a surprise beginning. The familiar strains of the ABC’s “7.30
Report” and the familiar face of its presenter, Quentin Dempster, who announced
that tonight’s 7.30 was showcasing the story of a remarkable woman – Gwynn Gleeson.
(My brother, Michael, had been an ABC reporter and had
arranged this – it was an impressive - and very professional - start.)
From there the camera went back to scenes of Mum packing, and
then taking off in the car with my sister and her husband to the sound of Willie
Nelson’s “On the Road Again”. Off to
where it all began, in Quirindi, NSW where Mum was born and grew up, and where
she married in 1943.
Here there were stills from her childhood and a voiceover from Michael, and then the highlight of the Quirindi section – a visit to the local picture theatre.
All of us knew the story but Mum told it again in situ. Aged about 13, she was sitting with her young
sister and sniffling through “Captains Courageous” – the scene where Spencer
Tracy says goodbye to the young Freddie Bartholemew - when there was a tap on her shoulder from the
man seated behind her. “Is that you,
Gwynne Whitten?” he asked.
“Yes, Mr Gleeson” (her new English teacher!)
“Haven’t you got a handkerchief?”
“No”
“Here, have mine”
Mum took it home and washed it and ironed it and returned it
at school.
Reader, she married him.
(Six years later, after he had left town and she had left
school)
Together my parents moved to Young, NSW where the first four
of their six children were born. At
Young, we filmed their old house and the High School where Dad had taught, and
Mum talked about their neighbours and the friends of their early marriage.
On to Glen Innes, where the family moved in 1953. Here the filming was at the school where Dad
taught, the school we children attended, the local swimming pool, and “the
house that Bill built”
It was in Glen Innes that Margie was born in 1956.
The swimming pool featured because all of us children were
keen swimmers and we knew our mother had been a swimmer but Glen Innes did not
have a pool until 1955. The day it
opened was a red letter day for the community and everyone turned up, eager to
take the plunge. The pool was not
heated, and it was October. Mum said she
dived in and completely lost her breath, it was so cold! She swam to the other side, got out, and
never swam in Glen Innes again.
The next stage of the journey was a side trip to Brunswick Heads, where Mum and Dad had honeymooned in 1943. Then a sleepy little seaside fishing village, it is now a busy tourist town. Nevertheless, there were elements that were unchanged and she sat by the Brunswick River, opposite the famous Brunswick Hotel, and reminisced about their honeymoon and the many times she and Dad had returned here with their small children.
In 1960. Mum and Dad moved to Dubbo in the Central West of
NSW where they were to live for the rest of their lives. Their youngest child, Michael, was born here
in 1965. All of us grew up here and
eventually left.
There were a lot of Dubbo stories.
Skilfully edited throughout the movie were video clips from
my parent’s 40th and 50th wedding anniversary
celebrations and other short clips which indicated some of the social changes
that Mum had lived through in her 90 years.
And at the end, Quentin Dempster again, wrapping up this
special edition of the 7.30 Report and wishing Mum a happy birthday.
It was quite a movie.
What a wonderful idea and quite a project. I'm sure it meant a lot to your Mum.
ReplyDeleteI gathered my mother's written stories of her childhood and self-published them in a book. She was so thrilled to see her name on the book cover at age 86. "I'm an author," she said and even held several book signings at the local museum and at a bookstore.
Your family will treasure this film for generations to come.
A great way to celebrate and also a good thing to keep for future generations.
ReplyDeleteIn July my computer died so I contacted a cousin in England and he sent me photos of my grandparents' 50th anniversary that I had never seen before!
Wonderful way to celebrate your mom's 90th!
ReplyDelete