The Extraordinary Tourist
Memories. The Museum of My Life.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Road Trip Day 18: 9th June 2007
For many people a visit to their parents home, years after having left for an independent life, brings back many childhood memories, artifacts and a history of growing up. Coming from, what is usually described as a 'broken home', the history of my early years and previous lives can be found not so much in my parents homes but in my sisters home.
The way my family split to eventually go their separate ways has gradually turned Rose's home (where I'm staying whilst in Perth) into a living family archive - though I'm sure it doesn't feel that way to her.
There is so much of my families history either still in use or stored in Rose's house that for me it's like coming back to a personal museum of our life. For example, Roses kitchen table and chairs are older than me. I think they were the very first table and chairs my parents bought when they arrived in Australia from the U.K. The chairs have been recovered once in nearly 50 years and are looking like they could use new covers again.
There are examples like this all throughout, from the coffee table in the lounge (probably as old as the kitchen table) to the cutlery in the kitchen draws (knives, forks and spoons as old as the table and still in use).
The earliest family photo albums are here. Almost as soon as I arrived I had to look through these because I knew they had pictures of Rose and I at the beach in Whyalla before we moved. I wanted to see if the beach was how I remembered it.
 It's funny how, when you look at old photos you generally don't notice the detail in the backgrounds however, when you're looking specifically at the background it's surprising what you see. Here is a photo of Rose and I at the beach in 1974. If you can peel your eyes off my stunning sun hat, take a look in the background. Notice the steam train? Until now, I never knew we had a photo with the steam train in it - which is why I was never quite sure about if it had been on the Whyalla foreshore or some other beach. This photo proves my memory to be correct. There is my steam train.
Rose's house has so many artifacts that connect us with Whyalla but it isn't just that period of our lives you can see. Her shelves feature one or two examples of my art from my High School days. She also has most of my furniture, LP records, books, computers and more that I left behind when I departed, bound for a new life in South Australia.
In the backyard is a four car garage that use to be my studio. This is where all my paintings pre the year 2000 are stored. More of my stuff that I couldn't take with me is here too.
I'm generally not one to live in the past but it's nice to be surrounded by memories and to retrace your family history. Remembering where you grew up and how you became who you are.Labels: history, memories, museum, road trip 2007, Whyalla
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