Memory Lane

I began my teaching career in 1989 at Red Cliffs Primary School. The group of Grade 2 students I taught  there would be in their early 30s now. I sometimes wonder about them. There’s something special about your first class. Coincidentally, when I began as chaplain at Brighton Secondary College a decade later, one of the Year 12 students was a girl called Carly Medley, who I taught in that Grade 2 class at Red Cliffs. She was however the only one of that group I ever saw or heard from again.

Marilyn and I were already engaged when I moved to Mildura. Despite the distance from both Marilyn and home, it was one of the most significant and enjoyable years of my life and I would have been happy to stay. But in the end there was little work for Marilyn and teaching can be done anywhere. Mildura will always remain for me one of those “what if” places in my life.

Marilyn and the boys were incredibly patient with me as I took a trip down memory lane – even feigning genuine interest at times. We drove from my little non-descript unit in San Mateo Avenue through endless acres of grapevines to Red Cliffs where we had a brief photo opportunity outside my old classroom.

After visiting the actual “red cliffs” on the Murray and dropping in to Quandong Park (the home of the Red Cliffs Tigers where I played a few reserves games), we journeyed back to Mildura to equip ourselves for the more remote places ahead.