A Day to Remember by Mrs Jean Wilson.
Our two married sons came to visit my husband and I one evening in 1980.
“We’ve got something to tell you.” the eldest son said.
“Oh aye,” said my husband, “What is it?”
“We want to go to Australia.” was the reply.
“How long are you going for?” asked my husband.
“We are applying for immigration and have the forms.” said my son.
To my surprise, my husband said to the boys, “I might go there with your Mum if the authorities will have us.”
The two boys gave each other a startled look and said, “But dad you are too old.”
“They need skilled workers in Australia and I am not too old to have a go. I will need to discuss this with your mother” my husband replied.
The boy’s application was accepted and with their young wives off they went to start a new life in Australia.
My husband worked with “Weir Pumps” in Alloa and the company was offering redundancy which my husband took.
On the strength of having two young men in the family already there to support us if need be, our application to emigrate was accepted.
We sold our worldly good and flew from Scotland to Sydney, then on to Melbourne where we were met by our two sons.
We settled into work quite easily. I was a trained psychiatric nurse and got a job in a local hospital where I was very happy working amongst the “Aussies”. My husband got work in a local power station in the town of Moe which is an Aboriginal name for swamp.
Our daughter’s family were unable to join us in Australia as her husband did not have a trade but they did have holidays with us. They stayed for six months and her children went to school there during that time.
We spent seven happy years in Australia.
When my husband reached retiring age of 65 we sold up and came back home to Scotland. One of my sons had already returned home but the other remains in Australia with his wife and two sons and is very successful
Having had a very exciting and happy experience, albeit in later life it, certainly has proven to be “A day to remember.”
