HAZEL CHURCH
Hazel
10 May 1948 – 14 September 1998
Date: Sun, 18 Oct 1998 21:55:30 +1100
To: bobm@agsm.edu.au

Dear Rob
Have just arrived home from Mackeral Beach where I put some thoughts about Hazel on paper - for your book.

I have quite a few memories of Hazel, because even though we did not see each other a lot, she was such an unusual person that I remember some things from each time we met. She was unforgettable. And I wonder why this was so? Well, she was very calm and had a kind of "centredness" about her and a gentleness that was almost palpable. As well, there was a quality about her, a kind of way of looking at the world around her which could see the bleak and at the same time the funny side of things. This combination, with her sensitivity to other people made her a very special person indeed. It was just good to be near her.

A very strong memory of Hazel for me was just after she gave birth to Joshua. She was so amazed by the process and was full of wonder at what she had done. I remember her showing Ian and me photos of the birth enthusiastically when she suddenly realised it might be too confronting for Ian. Even in her most enthusiastic moments she was sensitive to his feelings.

I was also around sometimes when she picked up the children from school. A very happy time for her, talking with the other children and their parents. One memorable day Joshua and his friend ran home next to the car because there were too many people in the car to fit them in. I think being a mother was one of the most fulfilling thing in Hazel’s life.

When she became ill, she was very willing to try all sorts of cures. I gave her a book once on the all-fruit diet. After a few weeks she gave it back and said, "Oh, I was so hungry...." She also remained convinced she could do everything - once when we went to nursery at Dural to buy some plants for her Tuscan courtyard, she happily picked up a 10K bag of soil which I couldn’t even think of lifting. She loved her courtyard and her back garden, said it was her meditation.

And as a lesson to all of us, the last part of her life was filled with the things she loved to do - being a wife and mother, singing in a choir and painting her beautiful still lifes. It was my good fortune to have known her.


Lorine was a friend of Hazel’s.


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Last Updated 3 June 1999