Master Z and I spent the day in Geelong, remembering Mum (Grandma Annie). For Master Z of course, it was just a fun, big day. Lunch with Jo and Jessie, Jo being one of Mum’s first friends in Geelong. Master Z loves that their cats aren’t as scared of him as ours are. Raj, their brown Burmese, even sat on Master Z’s lap. He was so excited that he didn’t know what to do with himself.
We then visited Mum’s grave, well, her spot on the corner of a memorial garden. She is buried in a beautiful country cemetery and it is such a peaceful place. Master Z enjoyed exploring a bit of bushland and I enjoyed the tranquillity. Just being there calms me. A few days ago, when thinking about burials and family plots, I wondered for a moment if I’d done the right thing, electing to not take Mum to the Portland cemetery where her parents are buried and many ancestors as well. If I’d buried her there though, I would never visit. I like to visit and I want to take flowers to lay on her grave each anniversary. As soon as we arrived, I knew again that I had chosen the perfect place. I could hear kookaburras and magpies. Many of the graves have very personal items on them, which remain there year after year. No-one steals them and no-one “tidies” them away because they are against regulation. Seriously, some cemeteries have very strict regulations about what may and may not be left on a grave.
In the past year they have done up the memorial garden. The old, very scraggly rosemary bush has been replaced by new, smaller rosemary bushes and pebbles now cover the whole of the garden. It was lovely to see.
After spending time there, we called in on friends Mum met through the alpaca industry and Master Z met his first alpaca. He wasn’t sure what to think, but he learnt a new word, “alpaca” and has been invited to come again to spend a couple of hours playing on the farm, meeting more alpacas and horses and having a proper chance to explore.
It feels good to be reconnecting to the positive aspects of my life with mum.
Bellbrae Cemetery
A corner plot, just as Mum liked
The view from the corner
Master Z meets an alpaca
He is cautious around this animal bigger than him
