Well my dear friend, same place but changed somehow. Life is moving really fast right now, as if it knows where I am going and I am trying to, not only hang on, but beat it to where it wants to go and I am losing the "race" very badly.
"...can I help you...?
Please be there when I need you the most (crying right now and just want to understand more, but more what?). "..don't cry, I am here with you now and we need to get this finished, sooner rather than later!!"
Okay let's proceed.
I am now a teenager and after a year of illness, requiring a lot of days off school, I finished in the top 40% of students in Form I, I and my parents were happy, particularly my Mother.
Form 2, 1963, say my brother leave and start his apprenticeship, which would be the platform of his long time career in the Heat Treatment Industry, which was a great choice I thought at the time.
I also thought the Cadets would be something of interest for me and joined towards the end of Form I, meaning I would leave a Form where I was in "A" (Form 1A - bright students) and move to a less challenging form 2C, due to joining the Cadets.
I was really starting to enjoy, not only learning, but also making new friends, some of whom would be my friends for many years to come.
The year was starting to be great on the money side as selling Newspapers seemed to be in my blood and which I really enjoyed.
My Comic collection was growing very rapidly, thanks to this and some "pocket money" my mother would give me for helping with the chores around the house. I also started to grow my interest in building plastic model planes, something I really enjoyed.
Thanks also to the Newsagency bosses, two men, one of whom I would become friends with for the next 10 years, I was able to look at the magazines and paperback books they had, I started to be drawn too, not only subject matter of the weird and wonderful (UFO's, Ghost Stories, etc.) but also basic science and books about the future, wonderful topics for a mind like mine.
But the one book, my first book I purchased, was on Buddhism. I seemed to be drawn to it, almost like it was actually calling me.
This was another sign that I was starting to head down a road that none of my family had any knowledge of, nor could understand why!! Another wedge, slowly widening the gap between my life's journey and the rest of my family, even my mother.
Like life is for me today, it was talked about in general terms amongst family members and I but never discussed; not one member asked me why?
I think my family all knew I was very slowly becoming different in most ways than the rest of the family, but they never stopped loving me or supporting me in things we had in common.
This never stopped me learning more in the areas that I enjoyed so much.
Remember, the "Mould Of The Person I Truly Was" and the ingredients that were added in my Childhood, then the start of my interest in a wide area of both accepted and "not accepted" knowledge/information is the starting point of adding the "Binding Agent" to the ingredients.
Given, my Father was "old school", apart from "bringing in the money" (his words, which were always repeated when I asked why he did not help Mum out, especially since she also had to look after 2 small children, now 5 and 6 years old), cooking and the odd haircut, I don't remember him doing any basic chores.
This was something I would later understand as being "normal" for most men of his era.
Although it was an accepted principle, I never understood why, but do now in retrospect. It seemed to be "hard-wired" in him and other father's of friends we knew; a sense of entitlement if you like.
"Yes, I understand, why don't we take a small break for tea, coffee and those lovely cakes I saw in your kitchen, LOL". Good idea, as I am feeling quite "naked" and exposed emotionally at this moment.
That break was exactly what I needed my friend, thank you so much. "...my pleasure and a big thank you for the Cheese Plate and the cakes, also.."
Illness, would once again plague me during this year like the last, affecting both my performance and perceived status as a bright student.
This wasn't the case as I finished in the top 35%, which made my parents really happy. My Mother saw in me what she could have become, if circumstances were different for her, as she also was very bright. Something I instinctively knew was very true.
I guess in looking back to that year, it was a defining moment for me in many ways.
Towards the end of Form 2 and out of the "blue", I received a very official letter from the "Education Department", advising me that I had been awarded a Junior Scholarship, which would pay for school fees and allow my parents to claim an amount for me each year, up to Form 6 (Matriculation/HSC).
I was both shocked and elated and very, very proud.
"Sh1t,...so what happened when you told your parents, my friend...?"
Ah, for that you are going to have to come back, hopefully tomorrow; same time?
"Hell yeah, I'm not going to miss this chance, no way....."
