As International Day of Older Persons 2023 approaches, ACM photographers present Our Precious Things - a project to capture the wisdom and experience of Australia’s unsung regional elders. Using intimate portraits and audio recordings of the stories behind one cherished object selected by the subject, Canberra Times photographers’ keen eyes, skill, and deep knowledge of their communities captured the essence and voice of a special older local.
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00:00 [Music plays]
00:05 The special object I have is a stole,
00:09 which is one of the special signs
00:14 of having been ordained for ministry.
00:18 At a very early age, I just felt that I was meant to be a priest.
00:24 When I realised that I had to be a boy to be a priest,
00:31 my first response was to be very angry with God
00:34 because he knew I wanted to be a priest,
00:37 so why didn't he make me a boy so that this could happen?
00:41 A life membership badge which was presented to me in 1975
00:50 and I became the 26th life member of the Ainslie Football Club.
00:59 It just is a recognition of my services to the football
01:06 in the ACT and the Ainslie Football Club.
01:10 To be 82 is not the best because my health is deteriorating
01:15 even though I look, you know, really good.
01:19 I love to see my grandchildren grow up, you know,
01:22 attend their wedding and so on and so forth.
01:26 I don't have enough energy for them unfortunately,
01:29 enough patience too.
01:31 As you get older, you know, you don't have enough patience
01:34 to look after them.
01:36 They've kept me active and probably kept me alive.
01:40 See, I've been retired from my work for 30 years now
01:44 and that's when I started with the Brummies
01:47 and that's kept me going.
01:49 I really enjoy the boys and the band
01:53 which keeps me going mentally.
01:56 They are family, yes, and I love each and every one of them dearly.
02:01 Of course, there were eight people on that plane there.
02:04 He had seven mates who was down there
02:09 in the, well, under the water
02:12 and they went straight into Tokyo Bay.
02:15 They laid the mines and said they weren't very popular
02:20 and they went in and they moved in onto the place
02:23 because I was getting to the stage.
02:25 It was nearly all over anyhow
02:27 and of course, they went right through
02:30 and then that's where the plane is now.
02:32 They told us it's on the bottom of Tokyo Bay
02:34 and they left it there.
02:36 And of course, they would be in it too.
02:39 That's it. That's their resting place.
02:42 [Music plays]
02:48 [Music]