Jus and I stayed at nanna and grandad's place for the last time, as the house is now on the market. It was weird to be there without nanna or grandad (it smelt different!) and it was sad to have to say goodbye.
I spent so much of my childhood here: Christmas lunches, birthdays, Easters, Mother's Days and Father's Days, sleepovers and sick days off from school. I stayed here when Jamie was born and mum went off to the hospital. I've walked and ridden along the river path to Shelley Beach countless times. I've stayed here every time I visited from Melbourne over the last 20 years.
We sat on the balcony staring out at the river over breakfast and we saw dolphins! Such a special spot and such a second home: every nook and cranny familiar, every piece of cutlery, every bowl, painting, bedspread and figurine is imbued with a sense of home. I half expected to hear grandad whistling from the workshop downstairs or hear the hum of nanna's sewing machine.
I walked around touching everything and giving Justin commentary. "This the phone we used when we played hotels and a guest called to make a reservation. This is where I did a cartwheel on the wall and fell off. This used to be a waterfall. There used to be a pool table here and those holes in the ceiling are from where we poked it with the cues. " More photos.
I took some photos of my most treasured iconic 123a pieces and snaffled a few souvenirs, dumb things like the wooden letter holder that grandad always had on his desk and a handkerchief with his initials on it, and some of nanna's cooking stuff.
123a is the only landline phone number I know off by heart.
2 comments:
what's the crazy elephant picture?
It's a painting that has forever hung in my grandparent's dining room/lounge room. Apparently my uncle bought it for them in the 70s. I've always been fascinated by it...doesn't it look real?
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