Writing Memoir – Parent

Workhop 1. Exercise 3

Write an early memory of yourself in relation to one of your parents.  Instructions given are to follow the memory, rather than trying to include proven facts.

I remember very clearly, watching my father play AFL football. In my memory, he was always flying high and going for a mark. He played for the Shepparton United Football Club, well into his late thirties, so would still have been playing when I was about six or seven years old. In those days, it was not common for a footballer to play until that age. Most retired much earlier.

On Saturday afternoons, my mother, my sister and I would go to Deakin Reserve, the local football ground, to watch Dad play. I remember there being articles about the game in the local paper on Monday, and many times they mentioned Dad by name.

I don’t have any memories of the actual games that Dad played in, but I can remember him running on to the ground. When I think of Dad as a footballer, I remember the day that we must have been running late to get to the game. As we hurried along the footpath outside the grounds, I saw Dad flying for a mark. In my young mind it seemed to me that he was soaring higher than the gate. I can remember feeling very proud of my father when I saw him high in the air.

Dad won many Best and Fairest and other awards, during his football career. We had trophies, such as silver trays and glassware everywhere in the house when I was a child.

Mum and Dad’s wedding day was planned around the football.  They were married in the morning, before the game.  After the wedding Dad went off to play in the match with many of the guests, including his brothers cheering him on. The reception was held that night after the match.

Here’s the link to a previous post about  Mum and Dad’s Wedding Day

 

The writing exercises in this series are from Patti Miller’s book – Writing True Stories, published in 2017, by Allen & Unwin.