My First (un) Fulfilled Wish

When I was growing up, we lived out of town on the corner of a very busy road.  It was the main highway that went along the northern coast of Tassie.  So trucks, tractors, lots of cars and the occasional bus. It was the main thoroughfare and in those days not very wide or accommodating for all the use it had. 

As I  have said previously, I was the youngest kid in our family.  That meant that a lot of the time I got the hand-me-down clothes and toys. Sunday School Anniversary and new year school clothes were probably the exception.  New toys at Christmas and birthdays of course, Mum and Dad weren't that mean.

In fact being the youngest had it's definate advantages as well.  I remember one Christmas Santa brought me a new Barbie doll, she was adorable and came with her very own designer wardrobe.  Mum worked a lot of night shift when I was a kid and she had obviously put those quiet, wee hours to good use.  She had always been a great sewer and indeed liked sewing, which is even better, 'cos then her creativity came to the fore. Being the youngest, Mum had time on her hands and the others were not in the right age group to appreciate such a unique and clever gift.

That Christmas I received a dear little brown school case full of clothes that any Barbie would be proud to own.  I can still picture it so very clearly.  It had little leather hinges and was only about the size of a Jodi Piccoult novel.  Inside there was a little tartan sunray pleated skirt with a ribbon waist band; a lovely white woollen strappy number, made out of a ladies glove that had been embroidered with pink roses  (Mum used the fingers of the gloves to make matching boots!!); a ballgown;  a soft as silk tan flannelette Indian Maiden outfit, made to look just like something Hiawatha would go trekking through the forests in, complete with fringing; a sundress, bathers and her own little beach towel. My Barbie was the best dressed Barbie at school.  Those hand made fashion accessories were to die for. I was in Little Girl Heaven.  

That little brown school case and Barbie gave me hours and hours of "making up your own stories" pleasure.  Needless to say, all of Mum's dedicated handiwork paid off for her too; nothing else was needed to keep me occupied for hours.  I would call that a Win/Win sitch. 

But back to that busy highway right on our front door step!  Our geographical situation was the bane of my life.  It meant that I would never know the pleasure in fulfillment of my first wish. I wanted a push bike.

I used to ask Mum regularly for a bike. I could have ridden into basketball, instead of walking; I could have ridden to my first job down at the beach instead of having to wait around for lifts or walking; I could have ridden around to Tracey W's house instead of walking across the paddocks and getting chased by  plovers! And I could have just ridden! 

Of course when I did get to anyone's house who did have a bike, guess what was the first thing that I wanted to do! Thank goodness Tracey's older sister had a bike as well :)

But to have my own bike was never to be.  Mum said it was too dangerous for me to be riding a bike of that busy highway  (not too dangerous to walk it though Mum??).  So early  in the day, I learnt that you don't always get what you want and boy has that been a well oiled lesson over the years. 

So my first wish that I can recall , was never realised.  Still that's life isn't it?

Another in the series of  Kerri Sackvilles First of .....blog posts 


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