I am going to preface this with an apology on the length of this post, it was a very hard to write this and share it with all of you - my sister @mumofmany wrote a beautiful post ten days ago, my Mother @aussiesteem managed after many attempts to write a post two days ago. It took me a long time to be able to sit here and actually write this, my goal here is to not only tell you the sad part of this story but to share the amazing life my Grandmother led - and in a way immortalise her life and legacy on the blockchain for all time. This is for all of my family but most of all this is for my Mother and Grandfather, not only as a means for us all to begin to heal - but to let them know that her story and images will live on forever on the blockchain, immortalised for all of time.

![Nan and Mum1.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmTcA8mVnQhHHsPHS6nsH5ao7vufeYss9dFxEudT8PzTN3/Nan%20and%20Mum1.png) My Nan Yvonne Kleinig and my Mother @aussiesteem Like most people at Christmas, I had a big day of fun filled activities with my children - plus for some extra added fun I was also scheduled to co-host the Steemit Musicians show on MSP-Waves, I planned to have a small hour long break then back to Christmas day festivities. Well as some of you may be assuming my plans didn't exactly unfold how I had anticipated them to, it all started with a call from my Mother at 7am on Christmas morning - not unheard of but she likes to at least let us attempt a sleep in on special occasions, so I thought it was a little strange but figured she would be doing the rounds with all 12 of her Grandchildren on Christmas morning and now it was our turn. I rolled over to answer the phone having only crawled into bed at 5am that morning, I was up all night ensuring the perfect Christmas morning for my beautiful children and sleep wasn't going to get in the way of that - but now in the harsh light of morning, I struggled to force my eyes open to find the source of that shrieking siren that was my phone. Flailing my arm around wildly, until it landed on the cold hard surface I instinctively knew was my phone and managed to swipe to answer it - letting it just lay on the top side of my face, I grunted an incoherent greeting of an attempted "Merry Christmas" and waited sleepily for a response. I remember this moment so vividly in spite of the clear exhaustion I had experienced, on the other end was my Mother and whilst she said Merry Christmas her tone was off and I was kind of shocked into consciousness out of concern - she had waited patiently, to ensure I was awake enough to comprehend the news that was about to follow. Her words echo in my mind here and now almost two weeks on, she calmly explained that last night Nan had been admitted to hospital with pneumonia - she had been responsive, chatting and all in all my Nan, but now she had slipped into a coma and wasn't expected to wake. I was in shock and I repeated back the info as it was delivered trying to make sense of it, Mum explained that they believe the pneumonia had put too much strain on her heart and her body was unable to keep fighting to make it work - she then explained that she was stable, but on a slow decline that she wouldn't recover from. I didn't know what to do so my Mum did what she does best, she told me what to do - she explained well she isn't going anywhere, so do Christmas morning with your kids, do your radio show then come up to the hospital for a visit. I felt guilty and confused but she assured me on two fronts, Nan would always want the kids to have the most amazing Christmas possible and she loved music - the show must go on, break a leg and all that, that's the thing with Nan she always ensured what needed to be done got done. We had a good cry and I cleaned myself up a little, to be presentable to the kids for their early morning presents - I did my best then to be a good Mum, to protect them from the news and my absolute despair at the situation. We opened presents, we played and ate and then before you know it, it was time to jump on the radio - I somehow managed to pull of talking on the radio, in between intermittent bursts of tears and sobbing. ![nan,pop and bro.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYwdxzUC2pkSiYF67KcGatMPJ53v7uXd5tUHZoaRjnQBo/nan%2Cpop%20and%20bro.png) My Nan, my Brother and my Grandfather Once finished we packed up the kids in the car and set off on the 3 hour car trip to go and see my Nan for the very last time, well I would go and see her - I ended up driving to my Sisters house, once there I left @ausbitbank and my two little munchkins behind while my Sister and I did the final leg of the journey alone. Both my Sister and my Mother had tried to prepare me for what I was about to see, but no words can convey the sight of a loved one in that situation - needless to say there were many more tears over the following hours, as we sat at her bedside holding her hand and talking to her. She had been suffering from vascular dementia for many years and for the remaining two years of her life she lived in a nursing home, so she hadn't been aware of who we were for some time - but what had caught us all by surprise was the speed, she had been fine only a day before it just seemed sudden and surreal. Shortly after my arrival my Brother and his Wife arrived at the hospital as well, again we all burst into tears the emotions too much to contain and deep down we're all a bunch of softies - so together we were a hopeless emotional wreck. We even had close family friends come to the hospital to pay their respects, even fetching us some coffee after hours of tears, sitting, standing, talking - we were all just emotionally exhausted. As we were sitting and discussing her life and our history as a family, we came to realise none of us could remember the last time we had managed to come together as a family at Christmas - my Brother like me lives hours from the Sunshine Coast (where the hospital was), so family gatherings are hard to arrange especially with all 20+ of us. Here in one of the worst moments we have ever shared and yet we all found a profound beauty in Nans ability to bring us all together on Christmas day, after countless years of missing out on spending it with all the family - she in her last days on this earth, brought us all together again. She achieved the seemingly impossible, her own little Christmas miracle for our family and we were ever so grateful she fought to stay with us - so we could all make it there, to see her one last time. Unable to stay the night with my kids needs, I begrudgingly left the hospital late on Christmas day - but not before my Nan gave us one more little miracle. Just as my Sister and I were preparing to leave (the plan was to never leave Nan alone, so @mumofmany would return later to let my Mum @aussiesteem get some rest) seemingly out of nowhere but while we were all gathered close around her, for a moment just a moment - she opened her eyes sat up and said "Hey" all the while looking directly at my Mother, it was the most insane moment and it was if she knew we were there and this was her attempt to say her final farewell to us. ![nan and mum opera house.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQqHtrCCaX37uc1uA9mKCasSvX2aY9SuE7i8p38nmw7vg/nan%20and%20mum%20opera%20house.png) My Nan and Mum at the Sydney Opera House We stayed longer but eventually knew we had to leave and get our kids to bed, so I said my goodbyes gave her a kiss and left to collect my children and return home - my Grandfather had been at home resting understandably exhausted by the sudden ordeal. On my 3 hour trip home I dropped in to see how my Pop was going, at close to midnight we proceeded to have an in depth talk about the amazing life my Nan had lived - he talked of the 70 + years they had spent together and that is what inspired me to write this post in her honour. After a long sad but beautiful conversation my Pop sent me on my way, concerned to see me driving home so late at night - he hugged me and walked me to the car, waving as I rolled down the driveway beginning my long trip home. The kids had been asleep in the back of the car and I spent the entire trip home replaying the conversations I'd had during the day, replaying seeing my Nan laying there slowly slipping further away - Returning home at close to 4 am and we got the kids in bed and quickly fell asleep ourselves. I was expecting a call in the following hours but no call came, if one thing could be said about my Nan it was that she was one tough cookie - and she wouldn't just go without a fight. Sure enough my Nan managed to hold on for another two days, finally passing just an hour after my Mum had left the hospital and my Pop had taken over. At 2pm on the 27/12/2018 Yvonne Kleinig passed away, alone with her husband sitting by her side - holding her hand, sharing their final moments together as they had in life - with each other. ![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmToxBEVxTTck1MZXXBjT4xEwffbLrAwp3wbVEbJnLTb9t/image.png) The family together at Christmas 2012, Nan and Pop surrounded by grandkids and great grandkids and loving every moment

Yvonne Kleinig - 1933 -2017

On the 2nd of September in 1933, during the middle of the Great Depression Amelia and Victor Billington welcomed what would be their only child into the world - a little girl they would call Yvonne. ![great grandmother, great grandfather and nan.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdi2NhJ357RR6Uz4c86mC3A3CfXobixtAYvUWtYjTf46y/great%20grandmother%2C%20great%20grandfather%20and%20nan.png) My Nan when she was 2 years old with her mother Amelia and father Victor. After reading my Mothers post on my Grandmother I decided to do some digging, apparently when she was a young school child she was evacuated from Sydney to Katoomba - my Mother couldn't find any records of this taking place, when I searched I too struggled to find anything mentioning this. I started searching every phrase grouping I could think of and eventually I found a story about an author, she has done a series of interviews of children who were evacuated from coastal regions and relocated further inland during WW2 - finally I had something recorded, children really were evacuated but so far nothing specifically about Sydney or Katoomba. ![trove.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUzkLV6HHuGHvcGfmTC63yaeV5pbPUk9BeiUt5daEeuiz/trove.png) I kept on searching and I eventually found Trove the national library of Australia, it's apparently a referenced listing of newspapers and other sorts of things like that - everytime I found a reference to anything, relating to child evacuations or Sydney and Katoomba I checked them out. I dug through countless articles often mostly unreadable, even the auto generated text from whatever program they use to attempt to decipher the text often failed - I came across some pretty random news articles, but every time I found something I felt I got a little closer to finding some mention of it. ![clipping.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdGEp2EvzmC1zr3EDVyhSjLFiGkowRKb7yXXbhBm8uhBg/clipping.png) I went through a heap of different mentions that had nothing to do with Sydney or Katoomba, that was until I finally found this little beauty... ![evacuation to Katoomba.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYt8GDufGDrqvppTc8Eo1syxDbRo5ddRRm6on6my5WtNj/evacuation%20to%20Katoomba.png) Now I don't know if you will be able to read this but the short version is, eighty six children between the ages of 7 - 11 were evacuated from Sydney to Katoomba on Monday the 16th of March 1942 - they were moved via train and their Mothers were not permitted to relocate with them, but they had access to teachers, a doctor and nine women were sent to accompany all of the children. I am not sure if this was in reference to my Grandmother, but I truly struggled to find any other mention of an evacuation that fit all of the criteria - to possibly even come close, to feeling as though I found some record of this occurring. What I do know is that apparently there is a lot of our history throughout the war we are unaware of, until recently it wasn't common knowledge that children had ever even been evacuated - and after hours of research I found one that seemed to fit her situation perfectly. On Monday the 16th of March 1942, my Grandmother would have been 9 years old - this fits with her recollection of the events to the best of my understanding, so the timing is spot on, the locations are spot on. Then after another re-read the snippet and I noticed one thing which suddenly jumped out as a possible further confirmation, it had said that the guest house the children were staying at had been donated for use - later on it continued to say that "as other premises were made available, they hoped to evacuate more children from danger zones." With the wording of the last section I quoted, I realised that there were no current plans or homes available to send more children to at present - and maybe given that there is very few accounts of this occurring, perhaps there was only ever the one transport. This would account for the lack of any evidence besides the one clipping I found, anyway I feel as though I have solved a little puzzle for my Mother who had been searching desperately to find any mention she could - this is at the very least the proof, that evacuations did occur between Sydney and Katoomba. I remember her telling me stories about the food and material rationing (you had to make your own clothes back then), she once told me how despite being very tall and thin - she still weighed a decent amount, she got more ration's than some of the other children and because of that she was often beaten up and had them taken from her. I also remember hearing how she had to make all of her own clothes and over time she became quite skilled at her craft, but she loved music as well - learning to play the piano first from her Father a piano tuner by trade, then later through professional instructors and she had an amazing talent for it. After the war ended in 1945 financial times weren't the easiest, so my great grandparents decided to rent out a room in their house to help make ends meet. ![nan and bro.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmRDxfj9KgMXS8VVHYv8vR7XM6xMn8hn468Q6BcvxCKNjX/nan%20and%20bro.png) My Nan with my Brother It was at some point during 1946 that my Grandfather decided to leave a difficult home life in Blaney (rural NSW) and move on out to the big city, or should I say West Ryde - Sydney. With all the self confidence and determination he still shows to this day, my Grandfather made his way to their house - showed up at their front door and at only 13 years old asked to rent their spare room, at this point my Grandmother was 11 years old and this is how my Grandparents first met. I don't know exactly what he said to them, but that is when my Grandfather moved into my Great Grandparents house to live - after some time and attending some local ballroom dancing events together, they began to date and pretty soon started dancing at a competitive level together. My Grandfather remembered when they went out to the movies it cost them 2 shillings and a 6 pence, Jaffas for 6 pence and a 1/4 pound of milk chocolate was 10 pence - I asked about popcorn and was told they didn't have it, as there was no way to heat it! My Grandfather also noted that for lunch, children were given 6 pence to buy their food - this bought them a bread and butter sandwich and 3 penneth (pennies) of hot chips the remaining 3 pennies were for a drink, it's just crazy to think how much things have changed in a lifetime. All the while my Grandmother had continued to train in her two passions, music and tailoring - once she graduated from school she was accepted into Sydney Conservatory of music for piano, her Father felt given the climate and the time she should get a trade instead. ![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmeXMcoZpjCb7BRbt1KoV2gNMdfWW5xEJd13hjqiDD39n1/image.png) My sister and her dance troop all wearing costumes my Grandmother made Unfortunately this would be where my Grandmother's professional music career would end, but her passion for music would continue on and she played for many many decades longer - but her other passion was a trade, so she focussed on becoming a seamstress. They continued to enjoy living their lives together and that still included competing in the odd ballroom dancing competition even winning a couple, it was around 1949 at the Rivili dance hall at Parramatta where my Pop remembers winning one of those contests with my Grandmother. After 7 years of dating and a very long engagement, my grandparents got married on the 6th of November 1954 - my Grandmother was 21 and my Grandfather was 23. Her Father was right and after the war her trade was in high demand, she eventually specialised in hand beading evening dresses, evening bags and even evening shoes - this is a skill that she used her entire life, still making clothes up until a few years ago. It was around 1956 that my Grandparents were living in Hornsby and my Pop had a Garage with a side business as a tow truck driver, in the middle of the night my Grandparents would get called out to horrible car accidents - they would not only tow the car but they were both well trained (and I should say especially my Grandmother here) in first aid and often were the first responders to some very serious accidents. They would provide whatever medical care they could until help would arrive often hours later, I think a lot of people would have been a lot worse off if my Grandparents hadn't decided to take up the role - but all in all that is the people they are, it's a job but if someone needed assistance they were always prepared and willing to help. They continued with the tow truck business until 1959, when they started their own businesses my Grandfather owned and ran a real estate agency and my Grandmother a haberdashery and wool store - they literally worked side by side for years, with their own adjoining business. Whilst still working 6 years after they married, my Grandparents welcomed my Mother into the world in 1960. ![nan and mum2.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmW5LnTASKiKC9dRH1CdAiUhCSWBExq8LEqy2FuTqZsBYt/nan%20and%20mum2.png) My Mum and Nan My Grandmother was a pioneer in her own right, being a self driven business woman and working Mother in a time when it was not only rare to see women working - but for them to have children and still be working was relatively unheard of and not at all socially acceptable. In 1966 my Grandfather was given the news that he had a terminal illness, so the family packed up for a scene change and to spend some quality time together as a family before he was expected to pass - they decided to make the move into the hospitality industry and purchased a motel, caravan park and petrol station, what can I say when my family decides on something they go all in. My Gandmother continued to work in their new business alongside my Grandfather, often spending an insane amount of time on her feet not only cooking for all of their guests - but cleaning their rooms and serving customers, the woman was a machine and worked like one for most of her days. In 1969 my Grandparents decided that all the children at the local school, deserved to be able to watch history unfold live in front of them - so in preparation of the moon landing and giving these children a once in a lifetime opportunity, my Grandparents took all of the TV's from their motel, to the local school my Mother attended and ensured every child got to see the historic moment take place live. They continued to both be active members of the community, still attending and winning ballroom dancing competitions - my Nan even stepped up and became a guider so that young girls in the community didn't miss out on the opportunity, this also included helping my Mother ultimately achieve the level of Queens Guide. All this on top of raising a young child, they all worked exceptionally hard and long hours - they worked hard for their business and their livelihood, that was until the fire. On the 17th of August 1970 a fire broke out on the property, it affected all areas of the business and home - some areas were completely destroyed while others were partially salvageable, but that didn't stop them. Instead of giving up they rebuilt, salvaging what they could they turned the 31 units into 18 - the house was completely gone so they downsized the petrol station and built a new home above it, basically they made the most of what they had (something they had and always would do). Best of all my Pop who had been told his days were numbered, seemed to just keep going strong - despite a terminal diagnosis my Pop is still around and still works just as hard. Life continued as it tends to do and in 1977 my Mother and Father got engaged, they were married the following year and for a few years things stayed fairly steady. ![mums engagemnet party.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmX9yuvKzkojjqaTs6bVwgEv8VZWsq4YQ5hojFTrAD2rpQ/mums%20engagemnet%20party.png) My Mum and Nan together at my Mother's engagement party, from all reports I heard they were a bit tipsy and were having some difficulties staying upright After those few years of my parents marriage our family kept growing again, my Grandmother go to welcome her first grandchild into the world - my Brother in 1981 and only a short year later they were two up with the addition of my Sister in 82, a family of three had suddenly turned into a growing family of 6 and counting. It wasn't until 1984 when my family made the move to Queensland, they had decided it was time for another scene change and they bought a waterslide park on the Sunshine Coast - it was a big move and my Mother and Father also made the move at the same time, this is also when I was born and became a part of the tribe. I remember the waterslide days as snapshots of memories, I can still see my Mum and Nan working in the canteen selling all sort of goodies to the guests - I can remember my Pop looking at big pumps and working on them when needed. ![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmP7f8mZG2UFmfzTnKJcSKfc5F6muSPEmbqGRZqFJ2eqLs/image.png) My Grandmother and I and the Treetop walk in Montville QLD (I believe I am only around 4-5 years old here) I can really remember our giant Doberman Khan, eating giant holes in the miniature golf courses fake turf - but most of all I can smell the sweet mix of melting ice creams, chlorine and well basically the smells of an Australian summer. My Grandparents both worked there until 1989 when there was a dramatic financial change in Australia, my grandparents decided to "retire" - I use the quotes there, because in all reality these two never really understood or took too well to the whole idea of retiring. Instead of setting themselves up for a relaxing time, they thought about their family and instead purchased what we here in Australia call an Old Queenslander - these are very old large homes often with added rooms and rarely square, best of all this one needed some TLC. So my Grandparents were set up with a massive project of renovating and improving this massive house, they loved their fixer upper and both worked on their own projects in addition to working on the house. Gardening was another common passion the two shared and I can remember after my Nan couldn't walk the hilly acreage property any longer, my Grandfather would pick her bunches of flowers from the plants they had chosen to grow - he even built a bush house at the back door, so she could enjoy nature and the plants on a flat sturdy surface. ![nan, sis, bro and me.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmb8DReHzqA1EFiy5Zemb9VF1vuAjNTNeFtZP1JARzga2h/nan%2C%20sis%2C%20bro%20and%20me.png) My Nan, my Sister, me and my Brother My Grandmother once again began to rely on her old trade, when my Sister and I started to dance ballet, jazz, tap, classical and even ballroom dancing - it was my Grandmother who not only made both my Sister and my own costumes, but she was in charge of arranging and making all costumes for all the dancers at the estedfordes our dance group were involved in. This would entail countless hours of work designing, drawing patterns, measuring the people for their own individual costumes - then she would make the patterns, make the costumes and then decorate them all individually tailored to each dancer and role. Were talking around 20 kids in each level of dance and each genre of dance and this went all the way up to adults dancing as professionals, she would work year in and out donating her time - so that we could all perform in the very best costumes possible, she would also be side stage of every performance ready to help with emergency repairs and costume changes. In 1991 when my Parents got divorced, my Grandparents opened up their house and welcomed us all to stay with them as long as needed - then when my Mother made the decision to go back to uni, my Grandparents supported her efforts. ![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmd6GQe2jitmL8kBy366r2DWfTWiT3TtP7cNuTQEKAiXFy/image.png) Me with my dance troop, if I am not mistaken I was allergic to the lipstick they used for makeup in this performance - my Mother and Grandmother were waiting side stage ready to rapidly remove it, so I didn't end up like a balloon for the later performances. While Mum had to travel by train hours to attend Uni, Nan and Pop helped with us kids - getting us ready for school, helping us with homework, taking us to and from Karate, dance classes, music lessons and more. Nan stepped up in a big way willingly returning to full time cook and cleaner for three young kids, these are the days of my childhood I remember most - living in a big house with our whole extended family all under one roof. When Mum couldn't get back before our bedtime, I remember Nan sitting with us all and reading us bedtime stories - on Friday nights she would often set me up in her room, with my own little sewing kit showing me how to knit and crochet while we watched old musicals together. She was an integral part of a unique childhood, so that after my parents divorced rather than being down by a family member we went up one - and at a time in their lives when they should have been winding down, they were instead winding up for round two. ![nan, sis, bro and me 2.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmZJ7n6xzjtDsJMoak6S9nqtgrrdAVnZQJjfzKFc2TNF8X/nan%2C%20sis%2C%20bro%20and%20me%202.png) My Nan, my Sister, me and my Brother My grandparents have always been there for us and not just in the good times but in the bad as well, they did what needed to be done with rarely any complaint - without their help my Mother wouldn't have been able to get her four Uni degrees, without their help my siblings and my own childhood would have been very different. My Grandmother was an avid animal lover, we often had more pets than people and at one stage we had around 7 cats in that massive house along with the six of us - oh and the giant Doberman. My Grandparents would drive us the 30 minutes it would take to get to school, that's after my Pop would (often still in his Pj's) make the short trip to drop Mum off at the train station - so she could travel down to Uni, at the crack of dawn most days. My Nan and Pop would get us up, dressed and packed for school, my Nan even made us a bunch of flashcards with the times tables on them - we would get 15 minutes each to study the set, then she would quizz us on the drive into school. She would help me with school projects, my Grandmother had another amazing talent - she was a very skilled artist and on more than one occasion, she helped me with a class project to get it up to a decent standard but then she would help me beautify it. ![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmZWTYpFCm7awMJHjPS3ar12zZrLfweNmjBAwctpYncEKB/image.png) My sister and her dance troop, all costumes were handmade by my Grandmother She supported and encouraged us kids to pursue our individual passions for music, not only helping with getting us to lessons - but also helping us to practice when we were at home. I struggled a lot as a child with reading(to be honest with math as well lol), I could read but it was a strain to get any sort of flow - I was a slow reader and most of all I couldn't stand to write, basically I was a terrible student in a lot of my subjects. But my Grandmother never gave up on trying to share with me, a passion for stories that both she and my Grandfather had shared for decades - and little by little she succeeded, at first it was a children's novel. You see my Nan knew at that stage I only had one passion and that was animals, so she bought me the book Bimbo and Topsy - it was a book about a cat and a dog and it was written from their perspective, she had me with that one I re-read that book countless times but wouldn't read others. It took time but little by little she found different ways to share stories with me, first it was reading to me then finding books that I would be interested in. Eventually she found a treasure I literally still have in my bookshelf today, a gift from her own Mother to her in decades past - it was a long shot given my struggles at that stage with language and reading, but she sat me down and handed me this leather bound book. ![nan and me.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdXJzSSGnH765okfVUPeNCCMkqPEzvVC7GnxAkbDqFNUv/nan%20and%20me.png) My Nan and me, I love my excited crazy eyes at the prospect of styling Nan's hair had on me - I look almost evil The book felt ancient and it's pages were as thin as tissue, I could sense by how she handled the book what it meant to her and as such I proceeded with delicate care - upon opening the book I was greeted by the phrase and title of the book, "The Complete works of William Shakespeare" I felt like I had been handed a secret and what's more it felt like it held some mysterious untold value. In a way I guess I was right, the book my Grandmother had given me, had been passed down four generations to reach my hands - and the best part of all of this was I absolutely loved reading it, she sparked my initial passion with stories. My struggles with reading weren't gone, but for the first time I was compelled to read and of all things it was Shakespeare - she had me hooked and from there I started to realise, there was more to stories than what I was being handed in school. It wasn't too long after that moment that I requested my first novel purchase, I was in grade 7 and I had heard about the book "The Hobbit" and I had to have it - I was so interested I bargained with my Mother to get it, saying I didn't need presents that year I only wanted the book! If it wasn't for my Grandmothers efforts, I may have never found a passion for reading and writing stories - in other words without her I wouldn't be on steemit, and I wouldn't have a massive fantasy novel I'm trying to write on here. ![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWADvycZdTct8y8NLGDB13WWBzNgddMbA9CKzSTQXViHp/image.png) My dance troop and I mid performance, my Grandmother again handmade all of these costumes after designing them and tailoring them to fit each individual My Grandmother changed my world by doing this and I will forever be grateful, for the amazing gift she gave me with her persistence and dedication - it's crazy to think how different things would have been if she hadn't. We lived as a big extended family for years it wasn't until I was 12 or 13, that we moved out and into our own place in Brisbane and Nan and Pop continued to live in and work on the house - she continued to sew for the family, making clothes for all of us over the years. In spite of constantly working on the house, they enjoyed living the quieter life for a while - that was until in 2005 things started to get noisy again and our family started to grow even more, Nan welcomed her very first Great Grandchild into the world. She set out making all manner of baby clothes and blankets, all with their own personal touches and embellishments - she was a very proud and happy Great Grandmother, in that there is no doubt. Little did we know but this was a time of big change and many many additions to our once modestly sized family, next thing my Brothers wife had their first baby - now here's where the battle began between my Brother and Sister, they played a bit of who can have more kids faster (btw my Sister won 6 - 4). Even I myself added to the growing number of Great Grandchildren, in the end my Grandmother wound up with twelve Great Grandchildren - all of whom were welcomed and have even lived in that same big old house with their great grandparents, four generations lived together as one big happy family under one roof (thank god it's a big house). ![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmXhkGWgbTbj5kZwenL8BJnhteDXyvzfj1adijSL17n2xs/image.png) All of the family together at Christmas, too hard to fit them all in one pic Even after we had all grown up, Nan and Pop were always there for us in every way they could be - whether that be a phone call to check in or to jump in the car and drive hours to pick us up off the side of the road in a broken down car, no matter what if we asked for help and they could provide it - it would be given. Over the years we would continue to have massive family catch ups, often taking over the entire area with all the kids we have in tow - but how many families get to regularly gather, four generations of family together multiple times a year? We may not have always had the easiest lives, but we always had a house to call home no questions asked - for our tribe, family always comes first no matter what. My Grandmother was an only child and in spite of my Grandfather being from a rather large family himself, they too in turn only had one child my Mother - at this stage no one could have known our family would just keep growing and no one knew, just how big it would end up being. When my Mother had three children it was a decent jump in our numbers, but I don't think my Grandmother ever thought she would live to meet her Great Grandchildren - let alone all 12 of them! She created a legacy that spanned four generations, she is in a way responsible for the existence of 16 new lives having been brought into this world - because if it wasn't for her and my Grandfather, none of us would be here today missing her. ![mum and nan .png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmTkGEVSikuMhJGN7xWsVvbe81rLJXsMahiQM9g6KSvtvy/mum%20and%20nan%20.png) My Nan and My Mum

Some crazy things that happened during my Nan's life:

- She was born in 1933 in Australia - this means she grew up literally in the horse and buggy era, yes cars were a thing but they were a luxury few could afford - my grandparents spent a lot of time walking insane distances for basic household goods. - She was born during the Great Depression. - She was a child during WW2 - and survived on rations of food and clothing, the children were also used, to sew clothes for the soldiers away at war. - 1945 the world saw the first atomic bomb used as a weapon. - Growing up the cost of Sugar was 4 pence a pound, butter was 1 shilling and 8 pence - and they had to walk a mile in all kinds of weather to get it! - In 1961 the first man went into space. - It was also the year the Berlin wall was erected. - In 1962 there was the Cuban Missile Crisis. - In 1963 Martin Luther King delivered his "I have a dream" speech. - Also that year President JFK was assassinated. - In 1969 saw the first flight of the Concorde. - 1969 also saw the first man walk on the moon. - In 1974 President Nixon resigned from office. - In 1986 the Challenger Spacecraft explodes. - In 1986 the Chernobyl disaster occured. - 1989 saw the events unfold at Tiananmen Square. - 1989 also saw the fall of the Berlin Wall. - 1990 saw Nelson Mandela released from prison. - It also saw the start of the Gulf War. - In 1997 was the death of Princess Diana. - In 2001 was 911. - 2004 saw the worst ever tsunami in recorded history, killing more than 300,000 people. - In 2008 she lived through the second devastating financial crisis that affected the world.

Here are some truly amazing things that also happened in her lifetime:

- She went from an age of horse and carts, to electric vehicles powered by the sun. - She saw computers come into existence and she saw them go from the size of rooms, to being able to fit in your pocket. - She went from radio, to records, to tapes and cd's finally ending up with MKV files. - She witnessed the birth o f the internet and watched it grow into what it is today. - As a child there were no refrigerators, people used an Ice Box to prolong the life of perishables. - She grew up in a time of outhouses and got to see the implementation of internal plumbing systems we know today. - Hell she saw the introduction to toilet paper, until fairly recent times in Australia (60's-70's) people used to tear up newspapers to use in the outhouse. - She witnessed the convenience creation of fast food and take away. - She saw the creation of microwaves (She even performed demonstrations when she sold them when they were a brand new technology). - She saw an age change from a small local store, being the only place you could buy essentials - to massive supermarkets that have every food imaginable. - She lived through the introduction of pasteurized milk in Australia. - She literally knew a time before sliced bread was available in Australia! ![Nan and Pop.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWD8kR7byVXJyw5xB6kVuFdtwfTqhNNrAdSZQcQ3JWjP4/Nan%20and%20Pop.png) My Grandmother and Grandfather

This was my Nan, this is a glimpse into the life she lead and this is how she will be remembered, by all those that loved and cared for her - she will be missed, but never forgotten.

http://imgur.com/1rTOMBf.png **Like what you've read so far?**
Check out my story

or follow me on twitter @krystlehaines
Please consider voting @ausbitbank for witness here