June 1999
There are so many ways in which you two have blessed me that it is hard to know where to start. Not only have you never failed in blessing me with all the material things I could ever need, but even more importantly, you have blessed me with love and a model of good character. By your example I learnt about making choices and taking responsibility, about trusting and being trustworthy, about enjoying life, and about being God’s dearly beloved children. You have always encouraged me and provided a secure base which made it safe for me to take risks. You planted the seeds of all these virtues and their fruits have brought great rewards in my life.
Everyone who ever visited our home always felt welcomed. You both put people at ease and made them feel a part of things. In some homes people may be treated specially, but always feel like visitors. At the Clarkes, people feel like participants — they can relax and be themselves.
Of course, there remained special family times as well. The fun you have with word puzzles made language fun for me too. All the games we played, like Chinese Checkers (always Mum’s choice) and Ludo (Dad’s) and the innumerable card games, were special times for us together as a family. The Christmas traditions have always been exciting and meaningful, even the discipline of having to wait for Gran before opening presents.
Its hard to separate how each of you have blessed me individually, perhaps because you have been so unified and mutually consistent in how you brought us up. But let me try a few specifics …
Mum, you’ve always taken such a big interest in my friends and made them feel special. I’m often surprised at how much you remember, even of those you may only have met briefly or even just heard about. Thankyou for listening and caring for me, especially in the hard times.
I’m so proud of your continuing thirst to learn — Aboriginal language, pre-history, Greek, computers, folk-art, leatherwork and countless other crafty things. The time and care you take putting that learning into practice for me and others (making jumpers, long-stitch, cross-stitch, Christmas cards etc etc etc) never ceases to amaze me.
Dad, I’ve always thought of you as the cleverest man around. I’m amazed at the ingenuity and creativity you show in innovations like the make-do-with-what-I’ve-got lathe, the picture framing, boat building, desk making, house designing, and numerous bits of camping equipment. With you, a puzzle can always be solved, something broken can always be fixed — all it needs is the time and will to understand.
From you I learnt to be a man and to think clearly. I have so many good memories of working together, even from a very young age when you would let me help put up an electric fence, drive a tractor, milk the cows and dig out tussocks. You taught me how to shoot, how to play chess, how to put a hook on a line, how to peal prawns. Buying cows from you to start my own ‘herd’ made me feel very grown up, and I’m sure taught me many things. You nearly always trusted me, and I valued that trust so much that the few times I lost it were among my most painful experiences.
It is lucky that blessings do not have to be repaid, because you have both blessed me so much that it would be impossible!
Love Matthew
In Praise of Perfection
What an arduous task lies before me
My efforts at prose may fall short!
To tell of perfection that completely surrounds me …
The fruit that your blessings have brought.
You have blessed me with a husband
So perfect a man there’s no other.
And he has blessed me with a son!
No more perfect a child for a mother.
Who can imagine the future fruit
that your sowing and tending will bring?
I thank you and I love you,
and will always your praises sing!
Love Rosalie