The nearest school was over 40 kilometres away in Nhill, so it didn’t surprise me when we were driving back from church when Dad made an announcement, an announcement that I will never forget and that changed Lucy’s and my lives dramatically.
‘I’ve been having words with Father McKenzie today, well, for a while now.’ Dad turned the radio down. I knew this was serious because we always had the radio loud on the way home.
Our ears sprung up like a couple of little lost mad rabbits when he spoke. You could tell by the tone of his voice something was up.
‘He’s strongly suggesting,’ he paused while wiping some sweat off his forehead, ‘that you both need an education and recommends St Joseph’s Catholic boarding school.’ His eyes squinted and swelled with a tear.
‘In Melbourne,’ his voice qui
