A party at the Aged Care Facility

In Brisbane, Aunty Alice lives at the Sunnybank Hills Carramar Aged Care Facility, where she was given a birthday party on March 3. She looks very happy here.

A centenarian in the family!

Aunty Alice Nicol, the fourth child of my grandparents, turned 100 on March 2. On that day, a rather low-key "birthday party" was held at the Anglican Church Hall in Springwood, Brisbane, not far from where aunty lived for many years.

With daughters Maureen, Virginia and Heather

We have 31 cousins. Ten, including the three daughters, turned up. Seven are resident in Australia, five in Brisbane or within driving distance. 

Standing: Lloyd, me, Gordon, Roy, Virginia, and Stan. Seated: Beaula, Heather, Delphine, & Maureen

Cousins with aunty

With Beaula

Greeting from the Queen. Aunty also received greetings from the Governor General of Australia, The Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the Governor of Queensland, the PM of Queensland, and other political figures.

Along with the Queen's greetings, aunty would have been happiest with the collage of Braine parents and siblings presented by second cousin Jenny (Delphine's daughter). Aunty seems to most enjoy recalling her childhood with her parents and siblings, so this was a thoughtful gift.

"He knows everything"!

Beaula and I with Aunty Alice

A few days before she reached 100, my sister Beaula, cousin Stanley, and I visited Aunty Alice at the retirement home in Brisbane where she lived. We went around 10 in the morning and stayed past her lunch hour. Aunty was in god spirits and her memory was clear.

I had done my homework. I recalled what Aunty Bee and my dad had told me about their childhood at Boralessa and at nearby Mawatte Estate, where grandpa lived. I also reread what Sinniah had told me about the family. In the previous blog post, I described Sinniah's first visit to me (he as visited twice more since then) and his recollections of grandpa, grandma, and the children.

So aunty and I talked, she recalling and I matching her recollections, for two hours. We talked about Boralessa, Mawatte Estate, and "Stanlodge", the house in Negombo that grandpa had bought for his children. Near the end of our conversation, aunty turned to cousin Stan, and referring to me, said "He knows everything"!

For all the time and effort I have spent on this blog - finding information, documents, photos, and uploading them - aunty's comment was reward enough.

Aunty married in 1943 and left to join her husband at Aspokuna farm, near Digana in the Kandy area. She would have been 27 years by that time. She worked as a nurse, and would have therefore left her parents' homes even before marriage. But her fondest memories seem to be of her childhood, spent at Boralessa and Mawatte. She barely referred to her long life after 1943, at Aspokuna, Melsiripura, and Brisbane. Perhaps the most enjoyable period of her life was spent with her parents and siblings, and that is what she remembers best.