As has been noted in an earlier chapter, my parents Alec and Win Bond settled at 15 Darling St in East Geelong after their marriage in October 1936. It is not known when they first met or knew of each other, possibly it was at a dance at the Palais in Moorabool St, as it is known that they both attended there in their younger days. Alec had commenced employment soon after arrival in Geelong at the age of fourteen in 1919. Little is known of his next sixteen years except that they were spent in Geelong apart from some interstate trips. From the photographs in the family album (now in the possession of my brother Gerald) it can be deduced that he visited most Australian states. His trip to Sydney can be dated at around 1931 from a photograph of the almost completed Harbour Bridge which was opened in 1932.

House at 15 Darling St, East Geelong. (Photograph was taken many years after the family lived there but the house is largely unaltered except for a new front fence, different shrubs in the front garden and a TV antenna on the roof!)

Win had spent her whole life in Geelong, being educated at St Mary's School and then at Sacred Heart Convent until Grade 8. She worked for at least some time at Camera House and also at the Valley Mill for a short period, but apparently lived at home until the time of her marriage. Although obviously well loved and cared for by her parents, from some of her comments later in life perhaps feelings of disappointment lingered in relation to a sense of being taken for granted or of not being given some of the opportunities provided to her older sisters - the chance to take swimming lessons is one example. Any such feelings were probably accentuated by the care and attention lavished on her niece Patricia Harrison who came to live with the family after the death of both her parents in 1923. I know that Mum felt that Pat was exempted from many routine chores and allowed to get away with all kinds of behaviour that had not been previously permitted because she was "a poor little orphan". It also seems that Mum's schooling was cut short as a result of Pat's "adoption" either because the family could no longer afford it with an additional mouth to feed or because she was needed at home to help with the extra demands that resulted from this step.

Alec and Win's first child, Gerald was born in August of 1937 and Maureen was born in the August of the following year. Australia was at this time emerging from the Great Depression and although Alec had a steady job as a laboratory technician with the Australian Portland Cement Company at Fyansford, there was little money to spare for luxuries after paying off the house and providing for a growing family. At the time of the outbreak of World War II in Sept 1939, Alec was 34 years of age. He was too old to be required to enlist and in any case was exempt through being employed in an essential industry. Thus although enduring the austerity of life during those war years, the family was at least together and spared the anxiety of having immediate family members away and engaged in the fighting. Margaret was born in October of 1940 and Laurence in March of 1944.

Alec is remembered as a quiet, easy-going man who worked hard to support his family. For much of his children's growing years he was a shift worker which meant that the time he spent with them was very limited. In some ways this limited contact and the constant reminders from my mother to be quiet so as not to disturb his sleep during the day made him a slightly remote figure and yet memories of holiday times reveal a fun-loving side to his personality. He possessed very practical skills and could turn his hand to many things which combined with his generous and easy-going nature meant he was regularly called upon to help or make things for the school, parish fete etc. Certainly my mother was the parent who assumed responsibility for discipline in the family.

Bond family picnic at Lorne probably about 1947. At back (l-r) Alec, Bill, Frank, Trese and her husband Jack McFarlane. Bridget is pictured next to my mother Win who is nursing my brother Laurie. The other Bond children (l-r) are Margaret, Doreen, Maureen, Lorraine, Gerald and Frank

All of the older children were educated at St Marys Primary School in Geelong with the boys then proceeding to St Marys Christian Brothers Technical School in Little Myers St and Maureen to Sacred Heart Convent in Newtown. I was born in the April of 1950 and my sister Catherine in Dec 1952 she being the youngest of the family. Although no-one could have realized it at the time, that Christmas of 1952 was to be the only one at which the whole family was ever to be present together. Early in the new year Margaret began to show symptoms of the illness that was eventually to cause her death. Remembered as always being happy, cheerful and good natured, she was greatly looking forward to commencing her secondary schooling at Sacred Heart that year and for a time attempted to conceal her illness to avoid missing school. When it became obvious that she was seriously ill she was first admitted to hospital in Geelong then later transferred to St Vincents Hospital in Melbourne. There was little that could be done for her and she died of a tumour on April 8th 1953. She was twelve years old. My mother scarcely had time to come to terms with the death of her daughter when my father became ill and died suddenly at home on June 30th of the same year. At the time I was the only person at home as I was confined to bed recovering from a bout of the measles whilst my mother had made a trip to the chemist's shop to obtain a prescription for my father's condition. One of the few memories I have of my father is when he walked past the open door of my room in his final moments. He was found dead on the floor of the kitchen with the window wide open. It is presumed that when he felt an attack coming on he walked from his sickbed, past my room to the kitchen where he attempted to attract the attention of our neighbour Mrs Scott, but collapsed and died before he could do so.

At the time of my father's death my mother was left with five children ranging from 15 years to 6 months of age. Fortunately the house was paid for by this time and there were no major debts outstanding. My mother was able to supplement her widow's pension with some part-time work as a waitress at the ABC. Cafe in Moorabool St. With the support of family, neighbours and many friends, and through her own courage, strength and strong religious faith my mother was able to keep her remaining family together and provide for them. While the older children completed their secondary schooling, Catherine and I commenced our formal education at the local parish primary school, St Margarets in East Geelong, which had opened its doors not long before.

It was at St Margarets that my mother remarried in November 1957. Her new husband was a widower, Laurie Brooke-Ward, a sales representative who had lived in Geelong for all of his working life. For a time the family continued to live at the address in East Geelong. Both my eldest sister Maureen and my brother Gerald married whilst we were still living at Darling St, but in July 1959 we shifted across the city to 27 Upper Skene St, Newtown, a much larger and more comfortable residence that had been Laurie's home and later occupied by his married daughter Pam until she moved to northern NSW. The shift meant that Catherine and I had to change schools and accordingly we commenced at Our Lady's in Manifold Heights in the middle of the year. I was in Grade Five and my sister was in Grade One.

The house at 27 Upper Skene St, Newtown

Both Win and Laurie shared a love for the seaside, and the sale of the Darling St home enabled a holiday house to be purchased in Ocean Grove, at 87 Dare St. The family had in fact enjoyed a number of holidays at Ocean Grove in earlier times through the kindness of the Dalton family of East Geelong who themselves owned a house there. Thus it was that as I grew up I spent many weekends during the year and almost every Christmas and summer holidays that I can remember at Ocean Grove. The house proved a very popular visiting place for family, relatives and friends during the summer months and my memories of that time are forever associated with the sun, the beach and the constant stream of visitors including my brothers and sister and their ever growing families.

It was not surprising therefore that when Laurie retired from work in 1970, the house in Newtown was sold and my mother and he shifted permanently to Ocean Grove. The next seventeen years or so were happy ones for Win. She became very involved with the Senior Citizens Club in Ocean Grove and served a period as President of the club. The income from the sale of the Newtown home together with the fact that her children had by this time largely grown up and left home, meant that my mother for the first time in her life was financially able and sufficiently free to enjoy the opportunity to travel. She therefore undertook to organize regular trips for the club which took her to many parts of Victoria, interstate and to New Zealand. (twice) One feature of these trips that was especially appreciated was the fact that she was freed from the responsibility of cooking and washing-up as she steadfastly maintained that she had never really previously had a holiday but "only a change of sink".

By 1987 the symptoms of Alzheimers disease that Laurie had gradually begun to exhibit had reached the stage which required his admission to a nursing home at Queenscliff. My mother continued to live in Ocean Grove from where she made regular visits to him, but late in that year she was herself diagnosed with cancer of the liver and given only from three to eighteen months to live. She faced up to this news with the same faith, practicality and courage that had characterised her whole life. A decision was made to sell up in Ocean Grove and move into a unit in Geelong where she could be closer to members of her family, and where she would be freed from the burden of caring for a relatively large house and grounds as her condition deteriorated. Thus it was that she moved to Aphrasia St in Newtown in March of 1988. Although progressively losing weight and energy during the remainder of that year, she was still able to accompany me to all the home matches of her beloved Cats and in October even accompanied her daughter Maureen and son-in-law Noel on a trip to Malaysia. She also proceeded to put her affairs in order even to the point of arranging and paying for her own funeral. The undertaker was somewhat surprised when she even asked to inspect the coffin that she had purchased! By the new year her strength began to fail more noticeably. She was determined however to be present at the wedding of her grandson Greg in February, which she was, but by late March her condition had deteriorated further to the point where she had to be admitted to the Geelong Hospital. During the last two weeks of her life she drifted in and out of consciousness and only occasionally appeared to recognize those around her. Several times family members were called to her bedside in expectation of the end but she continued to cling tenaciously to life. The family was called again on the night of Thursday May 4th, but it was not until 5.40 am. the following morning that she breathed her last.

Fittingly the funeral took place on the following Monday at St Marys Church where Mum had been baptised almost seventy nine years before, where she was married and which was the centre of so many important events associated with her life and family. A large crowd was in attendance at the Requiem Mass which was concelebrated by Monsignor Murray (PP. of St Marys), Fr Rafter (PP. of St Margarets, East Geelong) and Fr Piel. Mourners included many relatives and friends, Christian Brothers and students from Parade College, St Bernards College and St Marys Technical School. The latter group formed a guard of honour together with members of the Ocean Grove Senior Citizens Club. In his eulogy Monsignor Murray paid tribute to her strength and courage, her love of her family and her strong religious faith which were her outstanding characteristics. He also made reference to her lifelong devotion to the Geelong Football Club and commented that he expected to see a revival in the teams fortunes now that Mum had gone to heaven. Interestingly the team which had experienced a shaky start to the season to that point proceeded to win their next nine games, the first three of which were won by margins in excess of one hundred points, and eventually played off in the Grand Final - the first time for over twenty years! The burial took place on a sunny afternoon at the Eastern cemetery where Mum was laid to rest with her first husband Alec and daughter Margaret.

After Mum's death, Laurie was transferred to a nursing home at Coffs Harbour (NSW) by his daughter Pam. It was there that he died on Mar 13th 1991. His body was cremated and his ashes returned to Victoria to be buried with his first wife.1