The Life Story of Constance Green

So lovely to have Winnie, Edna and Alf stay with us for a few weeks
(at our house at 10 Mill Street, Redland Bay)

Alf, Edna, Winnie going to the Redland Bay pub for lunch with Connie & Dudley
( who’s taking the photo )

Dudley giving an art demonstration at the Redland Show, Redlands

Dudley and I often went to help Wendy’s class with art & craft at
Wynnum West State School

Wendy and Connie at Wendy’s Howlett Rd home, Capalaba, Redlands.




Dudley painting bay views, Redlands, Qld

Connie, Katy, Wendy & Sarah at Wendy’s Howlett Rd home, Capalaba



Connie, Wendy, Dudley with Katy, Sarah & their friends at Howlett Rd

Jan, David & family also moved to Redlands, Queensland (here with Nathanael)


back row: David, Jan, Wendy, Connie
front row: Rachelle, Nathanael, Katy & Sarah

Champion bowler, Dudley R Green, 1984
Redland Bay Bowls Club champion


( photo published in the Redlands Times )

Rachelle and Nathanael

Connie & Dudley at Wendy’s house in Ormiston, Redlands

1988


This year did not start very well as Dudley was ill in bed from Christmas 1987
until 6th January, 1988, with pneumonia.
On January 9th it was Wendy and Kevin’s wedding day and Dudley was
well enough to attend. It was definitely the shortest wedding I have ever
attended and also the nicest. It was held in the lounge room of Kevin’s parents’
home at Victoria Point and there were 20 guests plus Margaret, the wedding
celebrant.
Sarah and Kate sang ‘Longer Than’ – it was very moving and, as usual, I
was in tears. The bride and bridesmaids (Sarah, Kate, Felicity & Rebecca) looked
beautiful in their lacy dresses – not to forget the groom, Kevin, in his ‘galah’ outfit
of grey suit trousers and pink shirt!

Kate and Sarah as bridesmaids



Dudley continued to be his usual outdoor self, playing golf with Henri, our next-
door neighbour, on Mondays and Thursdays, and lawn bowls on Tuesdays,
Saturdays and Sundays. Any spare time was spent in the garden, which was now
full of trees.
I went by bus to play bingo at Capalaba every Tuesday morning and on
Thursday mornings Dudley took me to the Cleveland Senior Citizens Club and he
did the week’s shopping before picking me up again. For ten times a year, every
third Thursday in the month, I went on a coach trip to Jupiter’s Casino, Seagulls
League Club and Tweed Bowls Club etc. -a different club each time - all just
across the border in New South Wales. These trips were run in aid of the
Leukaemia Foundation and made a good contribution to their funds each year.
On Thursday, January 28th, I got a phone call from Wendy saying she and
Kevin had decided to buy half an acre of land at Redland Bay and build a house
there. I was delighted at this news because they would be living nearby.

On Sunday, February 14th, David was ordained as a Bishop of the Church at
Cleveland.

From March 21st – March 28th, Dudley and I had a holiday at Pottsville. Each
morning we toured the district then each afternoon Dudley played lawn bowls
while I played the pokies machines in the bowls clubs. The clubs included
Kingscliff, Cabarita, Tweed, Pottsville and Cudgen Leagues Club –all different but
very good for meals.

After our holiday, Redland Bay Senior Citizens club had started and I
played bingo there most Monday afternoons except when Wimbledon was on
and that was my priority! The club was only a five minute drive away but Dudley
didn’t like having to finish his golf early at 4pm to pick me up so it was a relief
when the secretary, Nell, who also lived on Mill St, asked if she could give me a
lift there and back every time. I also helped her a little with her work on the door,
especially when she wanted to take part in the square dancing. It is a small club
but very friendly.

When asked what I wanted for my birthday, I voted for another holiday in
Pottsville. Dudley thought Kingscliffe would be better so we had seven days
there instead! While there, I wasn’t feeling very well. My right arm felt like lead
and I had some chest pains, but I carried on as usual, pleased to be on holiday.

On the Friday night I was really ill with terrific chest pains – not to go into
too much detail, but I was having a heart attack. Dudley wouldn’t ring for the
ambulance as he told me later, he ‘thought the pains were the same, but just
seemed worse because it was night time.’ At one point, feeling near death, I said
‘Goodbye,’ but he didn’t take any notice.

So, after being in severe pain and no sleep, the next morning, Saturday,
Dudley drove me to hospital but refused to drop me at the clinic door. He made
me walk from the car park and I was feeling so awful, quite a distance, but I
managed it. The doctors confirmed I’d had a heart attack and insisted, that when
I go home, I must do nothing, just rest in bed and light meals. On Sunday Dudley
went to bowls and on Monday he went to golf.

Later in the week, I was feeling rested and much better, so Wendy hired a
wheelchair and took me around Expo at Southbank on the Brisbane River. We
saw a couple of villages, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, Acquacade and the parade
twice. All this was very interesting, not at all tiring for me.






( Wendy’s note: the narrative jumps from 1988 to 1990 with no
record of 1989 which is the year my father was very ill and died on

Christmas Day night.)

Nandeebie 1990


I was handed my keys to my duplex at Nandeebie on November 7th, 1990.
Jan took me to the Capalaba shops to buy some curtains and Kevin used one of
his days off work to put them up for me. The telephone was installed on Friday
9th and Kevin & Wendy came along with some groceries.
Everyone came to help on removal day – David, Jan, Joel and Danah,
Rachelle and Martin, Kate and Jason and Wendy and Kevin. There was more
sorting out and moving of furniture on the Sunday, of course, and Wendy arrived
with a large bunch of yellow and red carnations.
There are 7 homes in Banksia St, but only 5 were occupied at this time.
Both David and Wendy thought it advisable for me to live in a retirement village
which advertised the 24 hour service of help on call (because of my heart
condition). We have call emergency buttons in 3 rooms - bathroom, bedroom,
and toilet. Also there are no steps and there’s no gardening to be done. My
neighbours - Jean at number 28 and May at number 26 - were very friendly and
the three of us were called the musketeers! May and I both had ‘meals on wheels’
and Laurie at number 27 organised a weekly residents meeting in her home
which was much appreciated.




In early December 1990, Nathanael left for New Zealand on a 2 year church
mission. We were pleased for him but 2 years seemed such a long time and we
missed him.

David, Kevin and Joel moved things around in my garage to make it more like
another lounge room. Kevin put paintings up for me, and Wendy frequently
phoned so I was soon feeling settled in.
Sadly, overnight on Christmas Day, May, who looked the healthiest of us
all and in good spirits, died of a sudden heart attack.

In the new year, David and Jan & family went to Sydney to stay for a week
while Rachelle and Martin were married in the LDS temple there. When they
returned, a wedding reception was held in the Cleveland chapel and we were all
invited. Rachelle looked lovely in her bridal gown with hundreds of pearl beads
in flower patterns, all sewn by Jan.

On Friday, 25th January, 1991, Winnie telephoned me from the U.K. to tell
me that Dudley’s eldest sister, Dorothy, had died in hospital, from cancer. This
was a shock, as we didn’t know that she was ill and she hadn’t visited a doctor. It
appears, knowing what was wrong, she didn’t want treatment or surgery. I rang
her sister, Marjorie, in Sydney, to offer sympathy and to make sure she had heard
the sad news.

Another Trip to England 1991


On the 11th January I finally received my new passport. Kevin’s parents asked if I
would like to travel with them to the U.K.

Just as I was leaving on my holiday, two new neighbours at Nandeebie –
Beryl and Hazel - moved in and said hello.

On Sunday 10th March, we left Brisbane airport flying with British
Airways. David and Wendy and Kevin were there to see us off. We had a five-day
stopover in Singapore where we stayed at the Orchid Hotel. A city tour of
Singapore was included in the price, but I did not really enjoy it as my ankles
were swollen and I had difficulty walking. We booked 2 more tours, one to
Jahore where I went in 1973. Unfortunately the mosque was a disappointment
because, after walking up quite a steep hill, we were not allowed inside it. Also, in
order to enter the native house we had to remove our shoes, the floors were very
dirty and our feet became so filthy we could hardly put our shoes back on.

On the trip around the harbour, we stopped at a small island to see a
temple. The temple was like a market place. Near the border with Jahore, there
was a city of concrete with rows and rows of tenement houses. We did visit some
very beautiful gardens with many different kinds of orchids. The cleanliness and
tidiness of Singapore impressed us so we were not surprised to hear that there
was a fine of $500 for littering.

Leaving for the very modern Changi airport, it was good to resume our
journey in daylight. Able to sleep each night in a bed was a big improvement and
I had no jet lag either. Evelyn and Doug managed to manhandle my luggage as
well as theirs and saw me to my Leeds/Bradford commuter bus for domestic
flights.

From 15th to 28th march I stayed near Leeds with Winnie and Bert.
Charlie and Ann, Winnie and Bert, met me at the Leeds airport and we all went to
Charlie’s home for a while. Edna and Alf were in Spain and had asked me to join
them but I’d been travelling long enough.

Winnie and I played canasta every evening, often so absorbed in the game
we’d be up until midnight. Charlie and Ann took us shopping, a drive to Skipton,
a drive to Weatherby to see Bernard and Joan, to see Annie Strangeway at
Rothwell and Joan Boocock at Oxenhope.

This was very good of them because Bert could not drive since having a
stroke. But Bert was very helpful by meeting Kate and Jason ( who were visiting
Jason’s parents on the Isle of Wight ) and helping them get the right bus to
Weatherby to stay with Bernard and Joan.

It’s a very different world for me when I live in England, especially
socially. The light evenings (due to Daylight Saving) have a huge

effect. It’s no exaggeration to say that I go out more often in ONE
WEEK here than in ONE YEAR when I lived with Dudley in Redland

Bay!

The following is a summary of some of our activities at Edna and Alf’s
house, which will give you a good idea:


Card games Monday evenings with Kathy ( Alf’s sister ) and her husband. Crash
and Brag to begin with, then Kaluki.
Return visit to Kathy’s home on Saturday nights & more card games
Leeds to Majestic where ‘Top Rank’ company play bingo with substantial prizes.
Kaluki, a form of canasta, with Charlie and Ann at their home one evening a
week.
Morning tea with Charlie and Ann Tuesday mornings after shopping at Arndale.
Dinner at Edna and Alf’s with Alec & Bea nearly every week.
About every other week, dinner at Alec and Bea’s home or Alec would treat us to
dinner at a hotel restaurant.
Unless we went for a drive somewhere, there was a shopping trip every morning
to the local Arndale centre.
On Sunday mornings we had visits from Harry and Ivor and other friends.
We sometimes went to watch a game of bowling with them in very peaceful
surroundings.
If the weather wasn’t too good, Edna and I would have a game of scrabble and
every morning we did the newspaper crossword together.
With my bus pass, I could travel on trains and buses in the West Riding of
Yorkshire for only 10p and, for my first trip, I did a circular tour of Leeds to see
all the changes that have been made.

And by car:

To see Joan Boocock at Oxenhope
To visit my niece, Pamela, who runs a guesthouse on the seafront at Scarborough
To see Jack Hudson, brother-in-law, at Pendas way
Dorothy Cope at Sherbern-in-Elmet
Alan and grace at Barrow on Humber
Bernard and Joan near Weatherby
Helen at Novotel, York, then her new home at Sheffield
Herbert and Margaret Lawn at Pudsey
Auntie Lily aged 90 at Seacroft
Doreen and Charles Malta at Leeds 16
Joan and Ivor at Stanningley
Harry Farrer at Horsforth
Winnie and Bert at Adel
My sister Annie at nursing home, Seacroft
Templnewsam
Lotherton Park and bird park
Halifax Piece Hall
Spofforth, Knaresborough, Coneythorpe
Fairburn Nature Reserve
Leyburn, Hawes and Ingleton
Roundhay park
Ilkley and Otley
Round The Yorkshire Dales and Batley Park

I had 2 Holiday Camp holidays while overseas this time – one with Edna and Alf
at Butlins, Skegness from 17th to 21st June when the weather was getting
warmer. There’s a great choice of activities, including a variety of sports, and
you can choose to join in or not. The meals are delicious and in the evenings,
music is played and there are dances and music hall entertainments - one is The
Gaiety Theatre and the other is Show Boat. In the afternoons, when Edna and Alf
went walking, I played bingo and always came out on credit.
The second holiday camp was at Corton near Lowestoft,and Winnie came
with me this time.
On June 24th and 25th from out of the blue, I had a couple of ‘black-outs’
and felt pretty horrible. Edna got the doctor for an emergency visit each time. He
checked my blood sugar and blood pressure, gave me some tablets and told me
to rest. For my return journey to Australia I cancelled the 4-day stopover and
Edna went to the trouble of booking me a wheelchair for the whole of the
journey.

I think everyone enjoyed the farewell dinner I gave at the Harley Hall Golf
Club. I specially ordered Yorkshire puddings and gravy for the first course, then a
roast dinner and desserts, including apple pie and hot custard. I also gave
everyone one of Dudley’s paintings (not in frames) - I know Dudley would have
liked the idea.

The return trip was so much easier with the wheelchair and the helpers
and it was really marvellous when we touched down at Brisbane airport. Wendy
and Kevin and David were there to meet me and came home with me, where I
rang Alf and Edna to let them know I was safely home.

Wendy had done her usual and bought me some groceries and Sarah had
cleaned the house, thank you very much. Wendy brought me a large bunch of
flowers on Sunday and took me to her place for a barbecue dinner. On Monday
Jan also brought me flowers and Hazel brought me some freshly made scones. I
was getting spoilt all right!

Hazel is a very sociable person, very easy to get along with, knows just
about everyone and I see her every day. She often gets my post for me when she
collects her own, carries my heavy bag full of library books for me from the
library van and we sometimes have afternoon sessions on her patio playing
scrabble.

My life has changed quite a lot as I write this, in March 1993 – Hazel says I
am always out. Since I had my 2 heart attacks in 1988 and1989, I decided to get
out and about as much as possible. My neighbours, Val and Norm, give me a lift to
the Senior Citizens Club at Cleveland on Thursday mornings, Wendy and Kevin
take me to their home about once a week, usually at the weekend, and give me a
slap-up meal with more than enough to take home for next day’s dinner. Evelyn
and Doug take me shopping about once a fortnight and we have lunch out. Every
third Friday I go on a bus trip over the border into N.S.W. (on a Pokies trip in aid
of Leukaemia sufferers) and about once a month I go on a bus trip to Jupiter’s
Casino on the Gold Coast.



( Wendy’s note: my mother, Connie, died in 1995, 2 years after

writing this autobiography )

Dudley and Connie with family and friends –
some in England, some in Australia

Dudley, Edna, Connie



Connie Dudley

Charlie Edna

Eliza Kirk Annie

Connie Winnie





Charlie’s wife Ann, their son Jeff, and Eliza, Jeff’s grandmother

Charlie wrote this for our mother, Eliza, when she broke her arm

front row: 3 sisters ( Edna, Winnie, Connie ), Dudley’s sister, Dorothy,
Charlie’s wife Anne, Michael’s wife, my brother Charlie with camera
back row: Charlie’s son Jeff and wife, Winnie’s son Michael, Edna’s husband Alf


sisters Connie and Winnie

.



Eliza, Connie and Edna / Connie & Dudley
while visiting England

front row: Dudley, Winnie, my mother Eliza, Charlie’s wife Anne
top row: Edna’s husband Alf, Connie, Charlie, Edna


my bedroom at Edna’s house

Charlie, Dudley, Alf



Dudley

Dudley




Dudley

Edna, Dudley, Charlie’s wife Anne, Winnie, Connie, Alf



front: my mother Eliza, my sisters Edna & Winnie,

then Charlie’s wife Anne, Edna’s husband Alf
at the back: my sister Annie

Dudley at Thornlands lake, Qld - Wendy in garden at Para Hills, S.A. about 1965

Wendy and Dudley in Dorset, England, about 1973

My reference when I left my Adelaide employment

Connie Connie and Winnie in England



Wendy with her Saint Bernard puppy, Rumpole, at Redland Bay

Connie and paw paw tree at Redland Bay home




Edna & Connie outside Edna’s house in England

Connie & Dudley visiting Dudley’s sister Marjorie in Sydney



Winnie, Edna & Connie Our mother, Eliza Kirk

Connie & Dudley on the beach 1974



Wendy & Connie going to a Polynesian feast in Adelaide, about 1975

Our mother’s 80th birthday!

Connie at Wendy’s house, Redland Bay

My beautiful granddaughter, Kate

my beautiful granddaughter, Sarah