From the Princess
Having known Andrew for 41 years there are so many stories to tell, so I thought I would start at the beginning for us. As a new Yr.12 Immanuel College boarder from Kimba I was placed in the same House as Andrew, which was aptly called, Andrews, (of course Andrew would have a house named after himself). He first impressed me when we were getting our schoolbooks out of our lockers, and he introduced me to his little sister, Fiona, - I thought, Wow, my older brother would never to anything as nice as that! He then managed to get his way into the boarder social (where no day scrags were allowed) to woo me, which led us to be high school sweethearts for the year. Although we broke up straight after Year 12, and ventured in our own directions for the next few years, myself at Teachers College, Andrew in Melbourne trying out Air Traffic Controlling ( and hating it), and then me doing my time teaching in Port Augusta, we always remained connected and in touch, and no-one I met could measure up to Andrew.
One of the main things that attracted me to Andrew was the way he never cared about what other people thought of him. The young, self-conscious me admired this so much. His extroverted, outgoing nature meant that he would strike up a conversation with anyone, make them feel comfortable and always make the effort to make them laugh. He was also very sensitive; we would often laugh about the fact he was more in touch with his feminine side than me. He would ‘make’ me watch shows like Married at First Sight and Farmer wants a Wife with him and he would often tear up.
Andrew also loved to give people nick names as terms of endearment. In the early days he would call me ‘skip’ (as in Skippy the Kangaroo- very old children’s TV Show) as I would always ‘tsk, tsk’ at him, (which he thought sounded like Skippy the Kangaroo) when he would do something silly (or annoying) to make me laugh. He then discovered that my name meant ‘princess’, so that one has stuck. One of my favourites though was LOML (pronounced lommall), the love of my life, which we often would sign off on in our messages to each other.
Letter to Andrew 17-4-2020
Dearest Andrew, the love of my life, my LOML. I am so fortunate to have loved and be loved by you.
You were and still are my best friend, who knew me so well. My rock, my social organiser, my mentor, who loved to tease me to make me laugh. You felt it was your responsibility to make sure I was happy- “happy wife, happy life” you would say.
In recent years, you struggled with physical pain and didn’t want to burden anybody with it. And now we are experiencing the raw pain and heartache without you. To get through this we will follow your legacy- we will look out and genuinely care for our friends, reach out to our neighbours, take the time to have a chat, help and be kind to others, and most importantly use humour (especially your humour) to get through.
Although physically you have gone and left us with a whole heap of unfinished projects, your presence is so strong in my heart, you are so much a part of me, and you will be forever the love of my life. Please give us the strength to embrace life for you.
To quote our dear friend and author Victoria:
“Another day, another chapter begins.
It is a different story now,
not the one we might have picked off the shelf,
but page by page, we will get through this”
And this is a story that you will always be a part of, through our fond memories, the laughs and the true and pure love we know you had for us and we have for you.
From the love of your life,
Sally