1971 - Part 1

For Xmas, P gave me a watch.  Engraved on the back was "To Beth with love, P".  He explained that this had belonged to his ex-girlfriend.  He had gotten her pregnant, but as she was in the Navy based in Sydney, they took care of it for her.  When they broke up, he had asked for his watch to be returned.  It was a nice watch, but I did contemplate scratching off the engraving.

In early February 1971, P had his 21st birthday party under his parents' high-set house.  Mum had made me a beautiful halter-neck, backless dress from a peacock blue satin jersey fabric.  Of course I couldn't wear a bra with it, so I strategically applied some sticky tape. ☺

We were having a great time and I danced with P and some of his friends, but as the night wore on, P got very drunk.  He bailed me up against the fence outside and accused me of making a play for his friends, then he hit me.  I fought back, scratching his face, which immediately sobered him up.  I went upstairs and he followed me into his bedroom.  His mother and grandmother burst in, but J didn't say anything except for L to leave us alone to sort it out.  L wasn't having any of that and started screaming at me for scratching P's face.  I got up and left, telling my parents that I was going home.  After I caught a taxi home, P went to sit in B's car (the woman I'd replaced in Cashiers) where she consoled him for the rest of the night.

I kept going over that night in my mind, trying to see what actions of mine could have been misconstrued by P ... I found nothing!  After a few days we talked it out, made up and I chalked it up to a one-off event.

Later in February, Twin gave birth to her beautiful daughter H!

 

Mum and Dad adored H and couldn't do enough for her.  I had always known that Twin was my parents' favourite and now it seemed that her daughter was favoured even more.  ☺

In March we celebrated our 19th birthday with dinner at the Angus Steakhouse in the National Hotel in Brisbane.  In the photo below are A, Twin, me and P.  The boys were 21, but Twin and I had no problem ordering alcohol.

Our wedding was scheduled for July, but in April I discovered I was pregnant.  P and I agreed it was too soon for a baby as we both thought it would put too much pressure on a new marriage.  My sister had only been married 6 months, but her marriage was already a bit rocky.  P asked around and found the name of a Gynaecologist who performed illegal abortions at his house in Ascot.  P insisted that I would have to go alone, otherwise his price would double, so we sat down to work out how much money we could scrape up together.

I made the appointment and attended his house one night.  After his examination, he confirmed that I was approximately 6 weeks pregnant.  I burst into tears and told him I couldn't have the baby so he offered to solve my problem for $2,000.  It might sound like very little money now, but in 1971 it was a staggering amount to someone earning $50 per fortnight!  After more tears and a bit of haggling, he settled for $250.  He wrote me a prescription for some painkillers and antibiotics, telling me to take the painkillers 30 minutes before my next appointment.

On Friday night a week later, I returned to his house while P waited up the street.  As I approached his door I could hear music playing loudly, but over that I could hear a woman moaning.  I was so frightened that I knocked rather timidly on his door.  Of course he couldn't hear me so I tried again loudly until he ripped open the door.  He told me he was busy and to go away for about one hour.  I explained that I had already taken the pills, but he said it would be fine and slammed the door in my face.  When I looked up the street for P, he was nowhere in sight so I wandered down to the park and sat on a bench.

When I returned he was ready for me and much to my horror, he performed a D & C without giving me any further pain relief.  I won't go into details except to say I've never felt pain like that before or since and the procedure seemed to take forever.  I paid him his money and left with an appointment for a check-up in 6 weeks.  I slowly wandered down the street until I found P waiting around the corner.  He called a taxi and took me home, as I was bent over in pain and feeling very weak.  I let myself in and, telling Mum and Dad I was feeling sick, went straight to bed.  After spending all week-end in bed, I was feeling well enough to go to work on Monday.  At my follow-up appointment he gave me a clean bill of health.

I would like to say something to the extremists.  I don't expect you to change your minds, but please remember that abortions have been happening since the human population started walking the Earth.  Women should be allowed to control their own bodies and I don't want to see anyone forced to use "backyard" abortionists ever again, because that's what will happen if legal abortions are ever banned.

P and I married in July.  Twin was my Matron of Honour, my best friend L and P's best friend R's girlfriend were my bridesmaids.  R was P's best man and his groomsmen were T and my brother-in-law A.

I'm pretty sure that our wedding was one of the few in history to have hecklers!  As we left the church after the ceremony, we could hear a woman yelling out comments like, "You'll be sorry!" and "I'll give it 6 months!".  There she was ... with her friend sitting in the gutter, both drunk!  P's friend B who had comforted him on the night of his 21st.  He could have walked over to her and told her to go, but no ... he thought that if he pretended she wasn't there ... she would just leave so P did nothing.  All through our photo session, we would smile for the camera then scowl off to our left, then smile again.  I developed a tic at the side of my mouth after a few minutes of this absurdity.

Finally, we escaped to our reception at the Metropolitan Motor Inn.  I should mention here that after my Aunt L died in 1965 my Dad, being one of her executors, spent up lavishly.  Aunt L and Uncle G were childless so she left her entire estate to her five nieces and nephews.  Mum and Dad immediately paid cash for a large block of land in Sunnybank, a new Valiant sedan then they sold our shares in BHP to pay for Twin's wedding and her new car.  Dad insisted that P and I should have a great honeymoon so as well as paying for my wedding, I paid for our flights to Mackay, accommodation there, a week-long cruise around the Whitsunday Islands then tickets on the Sunlander back to Brisbane.

I'm sorry my story is taking so long to relate, but each post is more difficult to write than the last.  Thank you for your patience.

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