Life
gives us brief moments with another…
But
sometimes, in those brief momentsWe get memories that last a life time.
There are happy holiday snaps, postcards from exotic
places that I or good friends have travelled to over the years, funny cartoons
that make me laugh out loud. The Far Side collection is my favourite.
A man is sitting on an
airplane looking out at the clouds drifting by in the sky. There is a panel at
his right hand, which has all the usual buttons: volume, channel, light switch,
steward alert and on the left side is a button that reads: ‘wings stay on’ and
below this: ‘wings fall off’. The caption reads:
“Fumbling for his recline button,
Ted unwittingly instigates a
disaster.”(Okay, maybe this is a ‘location’ joke.)
Photos of family events feature in the dictionary, which
record moments of absolute bliss and success with my family
– everything from learning to sailboard, floating on Blue Lake at Straddie in a
dinghy, children playing netball, rugby and cricket, accepting awards at Speech
Night, graduating from university and most of all, just enjoying family events.
Photos and notes from good friends who make me smile,
fill my dictionary. Good friends are like diamonds that sparkle in any light
and even in darkness. Good friends are the ones who know all about you and like
you anyway. The gift of their friendship calls out to me from the pages,
reminding me that even on the darkest of days, there can still be a reason to
smile and to hope for a better future.
There are thank you cards from parents, students and
colleagues. Beautiful Valentine’s Day cards, special Christmas cards also kept
for reflection, including a lovely Christmas card written by Riordon, David and
Natarsha Turner at the end of my first year at CCPS, which I treasure.
A potpourri of photos of school related events like Anzac
Day marches, graduations, formals, semi-formals, Foundation Days; photos of Professor Ian Frazer, and who can
forget his description of going to a ‘pirate school’? Who can forget superstar, John Newcombe and
the amazingly ‘young’, grand Dame Elisabeth Murdoch?
Poignant photos found in my dictionary, remind me of
generous people in my life, like that of the School’s Patrons – Judy Henzell
and the late Joan Ford, Cec and the late Noelene Munns – all people who have
given so much to Caloundra City Private School. How can we ever repay their
kindness?
Perhaps the saddest of these mementos are those that mark
the death of someone very young. It reminds me of how fragile life can be and
the transiency of all that is precious to us. One that always makes me pause to
consider this fragility is of a past Year 11 student who died tragically in a
car accident in 2001. Her beautiful face smiles out from the pages and the
inscription below written by her grieving parents reads:
“Gone from our sight
But never our memoriesGone from our touch
But never our hearts.”
This is
the true joy in life,
The being used for a purpose Recognized by yourself as a mighty one.
The Being a force of nature
Instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments
And grievances, complaining that the world
Will not devote itself to making you happy.
It is my privilege to do for it what I can.
I want to be thoroughly used up when I die,
For the harder I work, the more I live.
I rejoice in life for its own sake.
Life is no brief candle to me.
It is a sort of splendid torch
Which I have got hold of for the moment
And I want to make it burn as brightly
As possible before handing it on to future generations.
Thank you for all of the wonderful experiences I have shared with you on this journey.
Karon
Graham
