Anne White
My Aunty grew up in Australia, as a child one of her favorite things was to ride her push bike and said it gave her freedom.
Her parents Charles and Margaret ran pubs in Brisbane Australia.
Most of her memories of Australia were of Rockhampton in Queensland, where she grew up and went to school.
She was only able to return home to Australia once and our family tried many times to get her to return home to live, but it was never to be.
She left Australia in the 2nd World War, as a war bride, going to Italy first to meet up with her then 1st husband Tony and then on to America, they settled down in New York. It wasn't a happy marriage and after he passed away she meet the love of her life Charlie Butera. Iris and Charlie moved to Tampa Florida staying there until both passed away.
Iris and her brother Travis and his wife Mary (my father and mother) kept in touch over the years and they would call each Sunday Morning to catch up. Mary travelled three times to visit Iris in New York and Tampa. After my parents both passed away, I kept up this tradition and my younger brother Peter called each week at a different time. She had great tales to tell both of us, of growing up in Australia.
I remember on the only trip back home to Australia I was driving her from my parents house to mine about 4 hours away, when out of nowhere a Kangaroo was jumping beside the car, she was so happy to see this. But the best memory I have of her was as a child receiving her Halloween cards, because in Australia this is not practiced and I loved the pictures on the front.
She will be missed terribly.
