My name is Sally. I was born in 1941. My father went to war and I never saw him until I was 3,5 years old. My mom was pregnant when he left for war. I had two older sisters so there were girls. After the war my parents had a little boy so they were very very happy. But my story really starts with the First World War.
My grandfather had been a doctor in England but he had come out to live here. When the First World War broke out he said to his wife he would never forgive himself and he would never look in the eyes of his children again if he didn’t go to war. So he enlisted in the army and arrived in Cairo but two weeks later he died from sickness when my grandmother was pregnant with number five. It is a very sad story for us and of course for my grandmother. Her husband never came back. He never saw his youngest child. My grandfather was very fine man and he was very famous here. He was the first surgeon in New Zealand.
So I lived here for most of my life. I was married. My husband has passed away. I have three sons, one of them is a doctor here, other one is a business man in Australia and the youngest one is a banker who he lives in Tokyo, Japan. I also have nine lovely grandchildren.
I think I have been very lucky in my life. I had a lovely husband and a lovely family with two sisters and a brother. I am very lucky that I have traveled around the world. I have been to Istanbul twice and I loved the mosques. We sailed up to Bosporus. It was great. So I am a traveler too and I would like to say thank you for coming our country and listening my story.
Sally
Auckland, New Zealand, 24 October 2018