My Mother, My Father: On losing a parentThe loss of a parent is an experience that we all face without any training - relating to a parent through old age and illness; going through the actual death in different circumstances and whether we can help parents to have a good death; the emotional aftermath - shock, grief, relief, the effect on families; funerals, wills and other rituals; clearing out the house and keeping memories alive; recovery and carrying on with life; the longer-term changes in us and our relationship with our parents. Edited by Sydney Morning Herald literary editor, journalist and writer Susan Wyndham, My Mother, My Fatheris a collection of stories from 14 remarkable Australian writers, sharing what it is to feel loss, and all the experiences and memories that create the image of our parents. Contributors include Helen Garner, David Marr, Tom Keneally, Gerard Windsor, Susan Duncan and Caroline Baum. These stories are intimate, honest, moving, sometimes funny, never sentimental, and always well written. |
Contents
Independence Days | |
SUSAN DUNCAN | |
NIKKI BARROWCLOUGH | |
Dreams of Her Real Self | |
JAYA SAVIGE | |
A Tale of Two Fathers | |
DAVID MARR | |
Goodbye Porkpie | |
SUSAN WYNDHAM | |
GERARD WINDSOR | |
Fred and Joan at the Forum des Images | |
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Common terms and phrases
afternoon arrived asked Australia believed breath brother called can’t cancer Cassandra Complex Cecilia child childhood couldn’t Dad’s dancing dead death Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau doctor door dying emotional eyes face father father’s feel felt film final friends funeral GERARD WINDSOR Gerry give gone goodbye grief hand he’d HELEN GARNER hospital I’ve Kathryn Heyman knew later laugh Lemon Tree Passage living looked lung cancer MANDY SAYER memory months morning morphine mother mother’s moved Mum died Mum’s never night nurse pain parents Perhaps play realised remember Scrabble seemed sense siblings sister sitting smile someone sometimes song stop story Sydney talking Tamworth tears tell there’s things thought told took turned voice waiting walked wanted wasn’t watch weeks woman wondered words write