Everything has a beginning, a middle and an end.
In this story, the beginning takes place in 1971, 51 years ago.
In 1971, Michael, Mathew and Peter are members of the Kew Hockey Club Junior Division. Les is part of the cadet sailing program at Royal Melbourne Yacht Club while Brett, Colin and Ted are in their first year at Camberwell High School.
The glue that joins these three diverse groups in 1971 is Ian as a member of the hockey club, a sailing cadet and in his first year at Camberwell High.
The weekend just past would not have occurred had Ian been a cricketer, a footballer or a private school student. There would have been a different beginning.
We gathered at Ted’s on Friday evening for celebratory drinks, a wood fired home cooked pizza or three, many laughs, exchanges of views, much ribbing and a sharing of emotions.
That 51 years on, this group of 8 are able to happily, easily and appreciatingly come together is remarkable.
And how much our conversation has changed.
Once we talked endlessly of the games we played, the parties we attended, the girls we dated (or who refused to date us) and the cars we drove (or crashed). In our late teens, we added talk of education, career and relationship choices to our conversations. Parenting came next and now for most of us, it is Grandparenting.
When once our health related conversation addressed hangover cures, sleep deprivation mitigation and the odd corked muscle, now it is more about the ailments being managed, the joints being tendered and the organs being cared for.
Of our 8, one has a replaced hip, another is scheduled to acquire a new knee while two have benefitted from the miracle of cardiac surgery. There has also been a recent prostrate surgery,
Due to recent cardiac surgery Ted was unable to join us for the following 2 days.
No, that’s not correct. Ted’s physical presence was not with us, but he was most certainly there.
There is after all no band without the drummer to keep time, maintain the beat.
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| Back Row - from the left -Brett, Peter, Michael, Mathew. Front Row from the left Les, Ian, Colin. And short one Drummer - next time Ted |
Once upon a time, 2 days away would have required (at least) 8 cartons of beer, some litres (and litres) of port and just a few bottles of Clare Valley’s finest, Taylors being our winery of choice.
This past weekend, some fine wines were certainly consumed, but in appropriate quantities properly allowing for their appreciation. Rather than the flagons of port of past decades, the container was a bottle, sealed by way of a cork not a screw top. The count of beer cartons came to 3 plus some organic cyder, ginger beer and even, yes even, some zero alcohol beer.
How times have changed.
And proud of these changes we all should be and we all are.
As a group we have much to be appreciative of. We all have healthy, educated and independent children. We all get on well with them too.
To varying degrees, we have all had some business success and are now in different phases of winding down our formal working lives.
We all have much to be grateful for; we all have much to look forward too.
Accordingly, we are all conscious of the choices we make and the potential impact on our future health and active lifestyles and the quality of friend and family interactions.
We have unconditionally supported each other since 1971, and this support continues to grow, to strengthen and be ever more important and ever more valued.
One of us chose to abstain from alcohol. Once such a decision would have been mocked, all but forbidden and hardly accepted but not a negative word was spoken.
Another had meticulously planned an alternative diet, fish not red meat, salad not baked potato, and again, not a negative word was spoken.
More so, there was curiosity about what the objective is, what is to be achieved by such lifestyle choices.
It is impossible to imagine even 20 years ago, one of us being alcohol free or red meat minimal during a weekend away.
Health, longevity and active living was a recurring theme of the weekend’s conversation.
We are all committed to supporting the choices each make.
Equally, we are all selfish enough to hope, to absolutely 100% hope that our choices ensure that 51 years becomes 71 years and then some.
There is always a beginning, a middle and an end; may we be in the middle phase right now.
Old friends are the best friends and may the 8 of us become older and better, always with the drummer, in person, keeping the beat.
We
are grateful, we are appreciative and we are extremely thankful that in 1971,
Ian went sailing in summer, played hockey in winter and started secondary
school at Camberwell High.
Extreme Serenity - The scene we woke to on our final morning
