I am still foraging through a plastic box of family historical items. I have decided to create a photo book for both my parents as I have so much that I don’t want to be lost. I keep coming across letters from my parents and other people. I have two letters that are very special to me – it is a long story, how these key people wrote to me.
Some many years ago when I was associated with a school, I identified sexual and physical abuse at the school and set out to stop it. It is a very long story, but you can guess that the key people in the church did not want to know about it. I went to the most senior person within the church, who apparently did nothing. I never heard from him. After much activity, I eventually left the church and have not attended a church service since.
Later on, I had written communication with two other key people in the church – and it is those letters that I have in my collection. Few people know the full story of what I did, but to me, that is just some acknowledgment of what I did. As it turns out, many years later, one of the teachers was jailed for his treatment of one of the boys.
As well I have found other documents – letters from my school principal back in the 1960’s, telling me how good I was!!
Soon, it will all be carefully in order, and when I pass on, there will be some history for my grandchildren and their children. There will also be an electronic version of it all. More work to do.
I often smile at all the items that younger people collect these days – my grandchildren have so many certificates, glossy elaborate school reports, medals etc. I wonder how they will manage to save and collect these items in the future.
