Well by the time the flat in Old Town Lane was settled, Mum soon found it pretty lonely. David was a long way from there in Oakham, Leicestershire and no doubt had his own problems so after a lonely Christmas with a bed chair and T.V, she decided to come back to Australia but of course she had sold the house round the corner from us hadn't she? Pickfords (the removalists) said "Don't worry we will just do a turnaround,"so back she came. This may have been the time that David wrote saying, " Mother can not spend the rest of her life in a jumbo jet!" Bob thought it a pity that it did not take six weeks like in colonial times to get from U.K to Australia. "The first settlers couldn't decide they didn't like it "he said. We were all losing patience. Bob wrote that she ought to give it abit longer which did not please her and she took no notice anyway.
I think she was able to house sit a friends place while she was away in Canada and then we found a place to rent in Farrin Street nearby. Of course with all the stress she was putting herself through her Menieres Disaese came with avengence; I would get calls from Myers to come and pick her up.
Anyway she did find a townhouse that she liked and bought this . It was in a group of five and served her well until she could not live on her own any more at the age of 99.
Those years 1980 to 1985 were not particularly easy for me in many ways. On our return from the 1980 trip Bob decided it was time for his mother to move in with us. She was 80 and had had symptons of Alzheimers Disaese since the year when Ian was born in 1975. She had soldiered on in her Broome Street home and it was certainly time for a move, not one that she wanted to make.
So it happened ,we jogged her along saying just stay a weekend ,then a couple of weeks but then took the bull by the horns and moved her furniture into the granny flat that had been purpose built for her. She had a proper kitchen and at first was able to make a cup of tea and we had Meals on Wheels delivered but she did not really grasp the concept that it was an independent unit and really had all her meals with us ,effectively living with us. There were good days and bad days. She was fixated on Bob, asking me a million times a day when he would be home and then of course settled down like a little lamb. It was hard on me and I did get quite depressed.
We had her medically assessed and one drongo doctor said it was just benign forgetfulness. Holidays were difficult . I felt we needed some family time together. Bob had denial in spades. She was at her best with him and could make very pertinent comments. She regularly set off to go home with Pepe the dachshund under her arm . Don would follow after a short interval and guide her round the block and she would recognise home although it was not the home she was hoping to reach. We did get her assessed and we were told that there was a purpose built facility being built so we decided to wait for that.
Bob would take her to watch Fiona's netball but she would not wait in the car if he was too long deciding to walk home. When one morning we got up to find the front door open and her gone we realised we could not cope any longer so she was admitted to the purpose built facility.
Of course like all the others she was intent on getting out but didn't manage because they sedated her with the nasty drug Melleril . "I'm afraid we can't cope" they said. Anyway the problem was solved when she fell and broke her hip and so wasn't mobile any more. She was first transferred to a revolting nursing home but when a vacancy became available at Braemar she was transferred there and had a peaceful couple of years before she died aged 87.
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