Stories
Catherine Peters
“All I wanted was for everyone to be together … that’s probably my greatest sadness.”
Her father’s fatal heart attack when Catherine Peters was sixteen had many immediate and obvious impacts on her family. Decades later, it’s perhaps the impact on her relationships with her sisters that is her biggest and most lasting sadness.
Renée
“My father clearly didn’t give a hoot about what would happen to us”
The writer Renée Taylor – known simply as Renée – endured a start in life as dramatic as one of her plays when her father inexplicably shot himself, leaving his wife and children homeless and penniless.
Kat Schwarzkopf
“If my Papa had lived, I probably would have learned to fly an aeroplane!”
Kat Schwarz’s father died suddenly when he fell through a roof. Kat thinks of her Papa, and his love for aviation, whenever she sees a small plane in flight.
Caitlin Cherry
“It’s up to me to look after myself, there’s nothing coming my way”
Caitlin Cherry’s dad left New Zealand for Australia when she was six then died suddenly when she was nine. Growing up with little money and less support, Caitlin knew she had only herself to rely on.
Helen Goodwin
“I don't remember crying for him, particularly. He was not much like a dad.”
Helen Goodwin’s dad died suddenly and unexpectedly, even though he’d been ill for some years. Helen felt conflicted about her father’s death, and psychologically stuck, until she discovered change was possible.