I touched his face, his hair. His body. Cold. Hard. His face had no lines. It’s been said, the worry lines leave you instantly upon death. Will I lose my creased brow, I thought.
Redemption by Lyn Mitchell
Reflections in old age can grab your mind and transport you in fractions of time. Moments in our unique journeys are like flag posts in a desert of inconsequential living. A word, a smell, a piece of music. Redemption was always waiting to be written, to be purged. Dad’s death mask was always in my mind’s eye. It never left me. I tried to paint out the memory but it was in a tute at Uni, a trigger was set up and I could expel what had been festering inside. Understanding, without forgiving, never forgetting, but finally being able to accept being born was to be regaled, and thankful that the sins of the father are not visited upon the sons or daughters. We can learn from before, and we can set a different path.
Lyn never felt educated. She left school in 1961 at year 10 level and fleeing from an abusive home life enlisted in the WRAAF. But the need to write never left her. At 72 she has almost completed her BA in Professional Writing and Editing. The obsession to write about her Dad’s story, a Barnardo’s boy, has led her on a journey of education. Along the way she studied an Advanced Diploma of Information Technology (aged 47), Diploma of Professional Writing & Editing (aged 68), and she has been published in Morning Bell, Dame Quentin Bryce’s, ‘Dear Quentin Letters of a Governor-General’, and The Age.
Redemption is read by Petra Glieson.
Acknowledgements:
Memoria is written, produced, edited and presented by Nat V.
Lyn Mitchell’s short story, Redemption, is written by Lyn and read by Petra Glieson. The story is sound designed by Natalie Vella.
Music in this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions, “Celestial Navigation” and “Plaque”.
Illustrations by Peta Manning. Her book, See Me Doodle, is out now.
Sound effects used in this episode by:
Having a smoke by husky70
Cigarette Cracklings Lighter smoke by gaby7129
Church atmosphere at Stratford-on-Avon with crowd – 1972 (1C4, reprocessed) by BBC Sound Effects
One unshod horse passes at trot on rough track, with some birdsong by BBC Sound Effects
One horse canters past on grass, left to right, with some bird noise by BBC Sound Effects
Horsesone-year-old foal calling to companion by BBC Sound Effects
Country Atmos with Sheep by kangaroovindaloo
Cows by mikewest
Prayer by mdayalan
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