A Night to Remember

A Night to remember


Sitting at the dining table sipping her favourite brew. Catherine's thoughts wandered to what tonight may bring.
It isn't every day you get to meet sisters you never knew existed. She hugged her warm mug with nervous hands "Keep calm Catherine it's going to be okay. This has been your dream since you found out you were adopted."
Having savoured the last few drops of delicious hot coffee, Catherine went to her bedroom to get ready. Draped across her bed was her favourite yellow dress. I love this dress, Catherine thought, it reminds me of daffodils on a sunny spring day. The dress complimented her exquisite figure, with its delicate lace collar and skirt flaring out towards her knees. As she slipped into her comfortable white sandals, Catherine grabbed her keys and handbag, making her way to her best friend's flat.

Just as Catherine was about to knock on Penny's door it swung open.
"Hi Cathy. You're early" beamed Penny. "You look amazing."
Penny and Catherine had been best friends since forever and shared a love for shopping in second-hand shops grabbing many bargains along the way.
"Come here you" said Penny as she swept Catherine up in a warm hug. "Have a wonderful night and soak up everything. Tomorrow you must tell me all about it over coffee."
"Thanks Penny. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. My hands won't stop shaking"
Penny grabbed Catherine's hands saying, "you're going to knock them dead and they will love you. I can feel it in my heart."
Penny watched her friend walk down the stairs to the underground garage saying a quick prayer "Please Lord let tonight be a success for Cathy."

Catherine unlocked her car and put the keys in the ignition, but the car wouldn't turn over. She tried again but nothing. She tried one more time but still nothing.
"Dear Lord, please let the car start tonight it is so important to me, as you know."
But the car would not start. Running back upstairs to Penny's flat, Catherine sobbed as she banged on the door.
"The car...won't...start." stammered Catherine "what am I going to do?"
Penny seeing her friend in such a state, called out to her husband "Jack would you mind having a go to get Cathy's car on the road?"
Taking her friend's hand in hers the three of them went down to the garage.
Jack went over to his work car and grabbed his toolbox, while Catherine popped the bonnet open for him. Jack tested the battery, but it was fine. Noticing some loose wires, he tightened them.
"Give it a go now Cathy' he yelled from under the bonnet. Catherine turned the key and her little car roared to life. Jumping out she hugged Jack and promised to buy him a beer. "What would I do without you guys? She said embracing Penny in another warm hug.

Catherine put on her favourite cassette tape, turning the music up on high volume to distract her and hopefully calm down a bit. Her street directory lay open on the passenger seat, but she had studied the route all week and knew it off by heart. However, she liked to be prepared for any mishap.
An hour later Catherine arrived at her sister's street. The darkness of the street made it difficult to see the numbers on the letter boxes, but she found the house half way down, lit up like a Christmas tree. What a relief, Catherine thought as she turned off the car engine, taking a couple of minutes to calm herself.
"Well, here I go then" said Catherine, taking a deep breath, then letting it out slowly.

As Catherine walked up the front pathway she saw the neat flower beds on either side, filled with roses.
On her left was a large tree with a homemade swing hanging off it. Wow! What a gorgeous home, Catherine thought. As she walked along the porch, she could hear laughter and men's voices coming from the front room. Catherine knocked on the door, her nerves beginning to get the better of her.

As the front door opened Catherine saw a lady wearing blue denim jeans and a plain white tee shirt. She was the same height as Catherine with quite a few similarities, Catherine thought. "You must be Margaret" said Catherine. "It's been a while since we spoke on the phone. How are you?"
"Not too bad" replied Margaret, as she opened the screen door. "Hello Catherine. Welcome. Please come in and make yourself at home."

"Sorry I am late. I had car trouble" mumbled Catherine.

"That's fine don't worry about it. You've arrived safely" said Margaret giving Catherine a hug and a kiss on the cheek to reassure her.
"Come on let me introduce you to everybody."
With an arm around Catherine's shoulder Margaret led her into the lounge room. There were three ladies sitting on a long leather lounge and one on the floor who had a little girl in her lap. Introducing the ladies from oldest to youngest, Margaret said, "This is Elizabeth, Beverley, Karen, Annette, and we have a sister in Queensland who was unable to come down."
Everyone hugged Catherine saying it was great to see her after such a long time.
"Would you like something to drink" Margaret asked.
"Yes please" replied Catherine.
"Soft drink or a glass of wine. I have white and red"
"I'll have a glass of white wine please."
"Do you like to be called Catherine or Cathy" asked Beverley.
"I do prefer Cathy. Only my parents called me Catherine"

Everyone sat down again in their seats, while Catherine found an arm chair across from her sisters. Placing her handbag on the floor Catherine felt extremely nervous and not sure what to say. As she looked down at her hands in her lap, she had to lock them together to stop them from shaking.
Margaret brought her glass of wine placing it on a small coffee table. Catherine took a large sip from the glass looking for some courage to speak. Margaret had gone back to the kitchen and brought out a platter of food with cheese and crackers, grapes, strawberries, and assorted biscuits.

"Um, are any of you married?" Catherine asked nervously.
"Yes, I am" replied Margaret. "And so are we" said Karen and Annette in unison. "We each have a baby boy, but our husbands are on babysitting duty tonight" smirked Karen.

"I have a partner and four children" said Beverley. "Elizabeth is engaged with the wedding being next month. She has an eight-year old boy from another relationship."

"What about you Cathy? Are you married or have a boyfriend?" asked Elizabeth.
Yes, I have a boyfriend" Catherine told them.
"Are you living together yet?" asked Annette.
"No, we prefer to wait until we are married" replied Catherine.
"Why wait?" asked Margaret.
"We are both Christian" explained Catherine "and we don't believe in living together before marriage."
"I hope they will still like me and not judge me for my Christian values" thought Catherine.

Catherine's parents did not want her to have anything do with her sisters, and this broke her heart to know her parents knew about her sisters but said nothing. After her parents died, she found letters and adoption papers in her father's office. Immediately Catherine contacted welfare requesting information on her sisters. As luck would have it, laws had changed and getting all the information she needed wasn't a problem. Catherine wrote letters to Elizabeth and Margaret including her telephone number to see if they wanted to have contact with her after all these years. And now here she was two weeks later in her sister's house among five of her six sisters.

Two men walked in from outside, deep in conversation. "Catherine, this is Johnnie and Mark" said Margaret. "Johnnie's my husband, the good looking blonde."
He was very handsome, and Catherine thought he would fit in well with the surfing crowd with those gorgeous, baby blue eyes of his. Beverley's partner Mark was tall with black hair and an unkempt beard. He didn't look Catherine directly in the eye. She took an instant disliking to him, thinking she wouldn't like to meet up with him in a dark alley.
"Come on Mark" called Johnnie "We don't need to hang around in here. This is secret women's business." Margaret rolled her eyes as the boys retreated to their beers and football.

"Do any of you know anything about your birth parents?" Catherine asked.
"Yes, I do know a little" replied Elizabeth being the eldest. "I remember living in a country town called Tumut. Our birth mother was called Romular and our father was Lesley. They weren't married."
"Mother was a sick person, and father was an alcoholic" Beverley chimed in.
"Most of his money went on booze, leaving little to buy food to nourish our growing bodies. Elizabeth had to look after all of us, but we were just five children at that stage. She changed our nappies and fed us. She even had to rub your nose on your bed Cathy when you wet it." Beverley grinned.
"I don't remember that" said Catherine indignantly.

.
Yes, I had to miss a lot of school, due to poor living standards and sickness. That's why we were taken away from our parents to become wards of the state in 1964. We were put into a home called 'Birdura' said Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth and I went to the same foster parents and we grew up together with other foster children. We were the lucky ones" said Margaret. The other sisters told Catherine who they were placed with and how long they were there.

"Cathy don't you remember anything from our childhood?" asked Beverley.
"No, I don't. I am sorry"
"Well we were placed in four different foster homes within a year. Not because of break downs in the foster home, or anything we did. It was more convenient for the authorities, much easier to place one child per household, than two or more.

As Catherine sobbed, her tears made black streaks across her cheeks as her mascara ran. "It's so hard to believe how close we were living to each another, but our paths never crossed."

"Come on Cathy" said Margaret "You can freshen up those sad eyes while Bev and I top up everyone's glass and find some more food."

Looking at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, Catherine pondered the thought that two of her sisters at least had grown up with siblings while she grew up alone. It made her angry and a bit jealous, but it was not going to ruin her night. She had them now and would make every moment count from now on.

Catherine smiled at them all as she sipped her wine. The time seemed to pass in a blink, but it did not bother them, as they would always have each other from now on. They took photos of each other, with Mark even coming in to take a group photo for them before returning to his beloved football.

Elizabeth, Beverley, Karen, Annette, Margaret, and Catherine talked and laughed until the wee small hours of the morning. It was a night to remember.