Page 91 - Be Reasonable – Do It My Way , Peter E. Daly AM, My Story

CHAPTER 9 - MOM THE FAMILY MATRIARCH
Chapter 9 - Mom the Family Matriarch
Up to now, no mention has been made of Mum. The reason for this is that she needs special acknowledgement having brought up eight children including Pop who at times could have been the ninth child. Mum’s name was Edith (maiden name McKechnie) who married Pop on 30 July 1930. Looking back, Mum should have been canonised for her personal sacrifice and ardent support of Pop and the extended family. You never heard one complaint nor
did she demand any recognition and the only time you know she was annoyed was when she started whistling or alternatively playing the piano. It was at this point time that we would all disappear!.
Mum never got much of an opportunity to watch all of us play sport as she was more involved in the house duties, but she was exceedingly supportive of everyone and admired their achievements.
Dinners at the Daly home were something else as we all had our fads and fantasies when it came to food. Although after putting up with Don, Pat and myself, she started to take a tough line and some of the kids copped it when they wouldn’t eat cabbage, cauliflower and pumpkin; which was never on my diet. How she did it and how she managed to prepare separate foods for everyone I will never know. We didn’t have a great budget but all the family were extremely well educated and we never actually did without anything when it came to sporting equipment.
Some of my siblings, but again not myself, received sporting equipment for their achievements. I remember one occasion when the Marist Old Boys at school played against the school first team.
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