Went to a funeral yesterday of a long lost aunt and caught up with cousins Merilyn and Terry, Ian and Wayne, and Stuart's wife Janet. Helen and I stayed with Stuart and Janet on one of our hitching trips to the Dunedin capping week in the 1960s.
Terry boarded with our family at 199 Jervois Rd when he came to Auckland to start an apprenticeship as a mechanic with the Post Office.
Mollie had been in a resthome for over 20 years at Pakuranga , close to one of her sons. She was a cousin of my father and aunt Dorothy. Their mothers were sisters, Eva and Flora McLachlan from Christchurch. She was born Mollie Stuart in 1916 so she was 94. I suppose I last saw her at Auntie Dorothy's funeral (d. 6 May, 2000 at the age of 92) and before that about 30 years ago, at my father's funeral in 1977.
She grew up in Coalgate where her parents had a trucking business, marrying coal miner Fred Mitchell in her early 20s.
They shifted around a bit, ending up at a coal mine in the King Country for several years where I recall our family visiting them in our Morris Minor. We had a bach at National Park where we used to go in the August holidays for skiing at Mt Ruapehu.
Then they shifted to Rotowaro near Huntly, then Mollie shifted to Huntly after Fred died and from there to Pakuranga in 1990. She was a prolific letter writer and Dorothy kept in touch with her in this way. They were favourite cousins. It is a shame our families lost contact but I hope to see cousins Terry and Merilyn again.
