Wordy Wednesday
Posted on by Debbie

Wordy Wednesday – Where am I from?

A Poem

What started as an interesting chat between bloggers about where we were from, has morphed into a writing exercise and is now a poem!

One of our group kindly sent me the template she had used for writing a poem about where we’re from. So I decided to approach this as a writing exercise.

I loved the challenge it posed and tried not to spend too much time thinking, instead letting the words and memories roll out of my head.

I broke it into two pieces, then and now.

Enjoy!

Where I’m from – then

I am from a sunburnt country, small coastal towns, the beach, the bush and the ever-present sunshine, except for when it rained.

From Noel, the iconic bronzed Aussie, and Sheila, the quintessential English rose – a fortuitous blind date and love at first sight.

I am from the housing commission streets, courtesy of a Navy lifestyle and later the bush block every Aussie dreams of building their own home on.

Rough, ready, wild, and happy, the first child and grandchild, always feeling the love.

I am from the eucalypts, the willow trees and the bush

Scenting the air and providing places to play.

I’m from family camping holidays, the importance of manners and listening to all kinds of music and talks.

From my sister and my brother, ganging up on me, making fun of me but ultimately being my friends.

I’m from the freedom of childhood and staying out all day with friends, with no-one knowing where we were until we returned home for dinner at the close of day.

From being told to behave; and do as I say, not as I do; being seen but not heard and never back chatting. Trying my best, doing my utmost to be good and a credit to my parents.

I’m from Sunday School, choir, elocution lessons, Brownies, Girl Guides and Venturers with experiences to cherish. Running, swimming, cycling, bushwalking – always encouraged.

I’m from Murwillumbah, from original Australian stock with the colour showing through – big brown eyes looking at wonder at the outside world.

Pressure cooker dinners, brains, lambs fry, homemade custard and eat everything on your plate. Family parties, celebrations and hanging around in the hammock on the back verandah, games in the backyard, table tennis competitions, days at the beach, Sunday drives ending with an ice cream and fish and chips wrapped in newspaper.

From the family get togethers, the laughter, the fun, the generational love shown in a variety of ways. My Pop jiggling the coins in his pocket before selecting a few to handover as he said goodbye, carefully adding them to my moneybox; my Nan’s perfect nails and the Sunday night tradition of painting them, as I continued to chew on mine; the quiet love of my other Nan, looking at her favourite mountain from her kitchen window every morning and when she could no longer see it, we would be her eyes and tell her what it was doing; the tobacco smell of my other Pop and the lines on his face telling a story, even as his mouth didn’t move.

What I am today is due to where I’m from.

1960 with dad
No Debbie smiles today
My fifth birthday party
Sisterly love
Sisters
Debbie at 12 years old

Where I’m from – now

I am from the mountains, the high country, above the valleys, a place called Tumbarumba.

From the coast, to the city and finally at home in the mountains.

I am from a beautiful place, a small town, a caring community, isolated, rural, but never down and out.

Character building, strong, resilient, forging our way ahead as we have done for many years.

I am from native bush, forests, vineyards, orchards, green fertile valleys, farms and slopes scarred by bushfire damage.  Wild untamed hills abound with kangaroos, brumbies and unique wildlife. Snow-capped mountains, gurgling creeks, flooding rain, warm sunshiney days.

Walking and riding in this area – always a delight.

I’m the mother of three daughters, growing up and ultimately leaving the nest, gone but not forgotten, their trips home increasingly more enjoyable, as they realise what they once had.

My husband teaching much of the town at school and on the sports field, joining in groups to help the town grow. Now retired we both continue this service in a variety of ways.

I’m from the belief that in helping others, helps you just as much and charity starts at home.

From the house we’ve made a home, and the lifestyle we’ve created, the happiness flows.

I’m from a position of gratitude and boldness, as life marches on, making the most of every opportunity and trying hard to keep up.

As the children settle and the grandchildren arrive, the light continues to shine in our lives.

The house comes alive when they visit and mourns them when they’ve gone, until the next time.

From the family who loves to travel, we will continue to stay together despite the current tribulations thrown at us.

I’m from hardy, resilient stock and bask in the love of my family wherever they are in the world.

That’s where I’m from today!

Views over Tumbarumba
Tumbarumba Creekscape
Paddy's River Falls Tumbarumba
Tumbarumba sign
Autumn colour in Tumbarumba
Tumbarumba Rail Trail
snow day
Tree in snow in Tumbarumba

I usually do a ‘Wordless Wednesday’ post but I’m mixing it up by adding a ‘Wordy Wednesday‘ post every now and again. Today is one of those days!

Wordy Wednesday 2021
Wordy Wednesday 2021

Thanks for reading my words and I hope they give you an idea of where I’m from and where I’ve come from to be who I am today!

This was a great way to ‘explore’ myself, looking back through my memories and thoughts to see who I am today from where I’ve come from. Denyse’s optional prompt for #lifethisweek is all about exploring, so pop on over for a look at how others interpreted explore.

Bold and beautiful is where I’m at!

Deb 🙂

Sharing with Natalie for her Weekend Coffee Share linkup

You can also find Deb’s World in lots of other places – stay in touch by clicking any of the buttons below.

Everyone has a story to tell!

Debbie - mother of a 40 year old

Deb is a young-at-heart & active 60+ blogger/retiree, after being made redundant from her 22-year career managing education programs in a men’s correctional centre (jail). She now spends her time reading, blogging, riding her ebike and travelling. Deb was awarded a Bravery Award from the Queen when she was 17 after a tragic accident – a definite life changing moment! She is married with 3 grown-up daughters & has 4 grandchildren. You can read more of Deb’s story here

Copyright © 2024 debs-world.com – All rights reserved

62 Replies to “Wordy Wednesday – Where am I from?”

  1. Deb, this was a great read, and you are very fortunate to have two cultures to be proud of and learn from. My nephew and nieces are the same, as one has Australian another Vietnamese and the other German.

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    1. Many thanks Gary, it was a great way to do it using the template and wasn’t too much like ‘poetry’ at all in the end. Thanks for your visit to my world.

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  4. This is just beautiful Deb, I especially love the way you capture the essence of your parents and grandparents and I could really relate to the childhood nostalgia – oh, those were the days!

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  5. This is a beautiful post Deb. I loved reading your memories of where you came from. They made me think of my own life. I’m sure being allowed to stay out riding my bike with friends until dark helped to shape who I am today. There were no thoughts of stranger danger back then. Great approach to the prompt

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    1. Thanks so much Jennifer it means a lot to me to hear others enjoyed reading my words. I’m sure we had similar experiences growing up and it’s great to remember those days though this medium.

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  7. I enjoyed this! I want to read it again a bit more slowly…lol. I’m trying to read through some of the weekend coffee posts…I honestly try to hit all oof them and then save some I want to go back and read more…. 🙂 I don’t like leaving anyone out….haha.

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    1. Thanks very much Kirstin, for visiting and leaving me a comment. I also try to read as many #weekendcoffeeshare posts as possible too and it’s always so interesting to see what everyone is up to!

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  10. I absolutely adore the format of these two poems and would love to copy them (if you don’t mind). I’m currently working on genealogy research with the hopes of telling not only my parents’ story but my story as well. The poem is a unique way to document life. Thanks so much for sharing!

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    1. Thanks Molly, of course you can use the format. The link I included to Leanne’s original post also includes the template (I think). I really enjoyed the challenge and and pleased my words resonated with you. I agree it’s a great way of sharing parts of our lives without being too formal or ‘boring’. I really appreciate your comment.

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  12. Hi Debbie, This is a fabulous post that speaks from the heart. I love how the words flow and the images they bring up. Thank you for sharing your photos and more about you then and now with us at #WeekendCoffeeShare.

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  13. Loved reading this free verse and getting to know you a little bit better, Deb! When you describe your childhood home and your mom and dad, I can just picture all of it in my mind’s eye. Every woman should be able to describe herself the way you do – bold and beautiful!

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  17. Such a lovely wordy Wednesday to read and it flowed…like all good words can. Wonderful Deb. Writing is really agreeing with you!! Go for it. Denyse

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      1. Ah ha, I see a very bold woman indeed!!

        Thank you for linking up your blog post for #lifethisweek on Monday 22 Feb 2021. Next week, it’s the first optional prompt of Taking Stock where I am using my own prompts for the first time. Hope to see you there, on or off prompt. Take care, Denyse #lifethisweek #linkup #Australia

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    1. Oh thank you Donna, I absolutely loved writing it so maybe that shines through my words. The memories were clear in my head and I thoroughly enjoyed sharing it with you all. You are too kind xx

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  19. I loved reading these, but especially the first one – there was so much in common with my own childhood even though we lived (and live) on opposite sides of the world. The mix of freedoms (to stay out all day) and rules (eat everything up, speak when spoken to) is just what I experienced and I reckon it was a pretty good framework in which to grow up 🙂

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    1. Thanks Sarah, isn’t it funny how we can see so many similarities despite growing up and living on different sides of the world? I’m so pleased you enjoyed my poems and also that you left a lovely comment. I’m pretty happy with how I grew up and where I came from and thoroughly enjoyed sharing these thoughts and memories.

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  20. Deb, this is absolutely the most beautiful piece of writing I have read lately. Your childhood has many parallels to my own, but I could never capture it in writing the way you have here. The coins clinking in your Pop’s pocket create such vivid imagery of a beautiful childhood. This was nice. Thank you.

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    1. Many thanks Suzanne for your lovely comment. I’m glad parts of it resonated with you too and you could see the parallels with your childhood experiences. I really enjoyed writing this piece and I’m so pleased you and others have enjoyed reading it. You’ve made my day 🙂

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  21. I loved both your poems, they certainly tell me a lot about you. But I found out that not only do you live in a town with a great name – Tumbarumba (I still love saying that!) but you grew up in a town with a great name – Murwillumbah! Just to give you a comparison, I lived in Meriden, Wallingford, and Cheshire but I didn’t live in England. The Puritans weren’t allowed to think of anything new and interesting so they just copied the names they remembered.

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    1. Thanks Jennifer! Yes the town names certainly have a unique sound down here, mainly they’re based on Aboriginal words and have a meaning about the area. Tumbarumba is an onomatopoeia word, meaning hollow sounding hills – the kangaroos jumping over the ground made a toomba-roomba type of noise. I understand the Puritans didn’t like new and interesting names but they missed out on a bit of fun in my opinion! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

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  23. I took come from being told to behave; and do as I say, not as I do; being seen but not heard and never back chatting. Trying my best, doing my utmost to be good and a credit to my parents.

    Love your B&W photographs ❤️

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  25. Hi Deb – it was a fun challenge wasn’t it (and I’ve added a link to your poems into my post that’s coming up). I loved the contrasts between the b&w photos and the coloured ones too – such a great visual of the then and now.

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    1. Thanks again for the link and the inspiration Leanne, I really enjoyed the challenge and am pleased with my results. They’ve also hit a nerve with readers as you experienced with your earlier post. Thanks for adding a link to your upcoming post, much appreciated. I too loved the contrast of the b&w photos with the more recent colour ones, it says a lot!!

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