1983

Each chapter of Conchie begins with an object that tells some of my dad's back story. Pictures, pieces of furniture, books, photographs, walking sticks and a coat all yield their mute treasure but the first exhibit is a diary from 1983.

Dad was a great scribbler and writer; mostly sermons and ideas penned on sheets of paper, envelopes and the back of utility bills. But he also kept diaries intermittently over the span of his 92 years and the one he kept in 1983 kicks it all off. Unusually for dad there are pages he kept consecutively, commenting on current affairs and reflecting on his life. This was a really big year for him. It marked the end of his working life due to deteriorating health.

It was given to him as a gift by the women's meeting of the church he was pastoring in 1983.