Yesterday Peter, Louis and I just happened to be driving near Pakenham, the place my family were living when I joined the Williams clan. The only memories I have of the house are based on photos taken by a neighbour. Fortunately Hugo, was old enough to remember some of the events that happened at the time. He could tell me the name of the street, and that we lived next to a creek which had flooded our house one year. This was enough for me to find the house on google maps.

I sent him a screen grab from street view and he was pretty sure it was the same house.

Peter, Louis and I dropped by to take a closer look.

In studying the photos of my brothers and I from those days, the house detail in the background convinced us that it is definitely the same house.

It’s a strange sensation to return to a home after almost sixty years and find that it is still there. Especially in these days when townhouses and apartment blocks win the toss against family homes.

Hugo asked why I had suddenly become interested in that old house. I told him how, at lunch on Tuesday, our mother had told me that she couldn’t remember what I was like at a child. It occurred to me that Hugo was now the keeper of our early family memories, thank goodness for older siblings! And younger ones – Jann joined us in 1961, making the family complete.