Today I met the lovely Fay for a Golden age portrait session. She was very impressed with the greenhouse & complimented it many times during the session. While her long term memory is still great it's the short term she struggles with. However she doesn't for one minute forget her adorable great granddaughter Vada. We had to hide her away during some of the pics so I could get Fay's attention back to the camera.
Patricia Fay Kennedy (goes by Fay) born 16/6/1942 was born at Scone Hospital. She is the 2nd eldest child of 7. Two of which passed away as babies. Fay’s father held many jobs over the years and her mother was a stay at home mum. Fay is Aboriginal (Kamilaroi) but her mother never admitted it in public as she feared her or her children being taken away. Only as a mother did Fay acknowledge her Aboriginality but still didn’t celebrated it until many years after her mother’s passing. In Fay’s family she is the only sibling who is fair skinned with red hair.
Fay lived in the town of Aberdeen on a large block and the family were self-sufficient. She attended Aberdeen Public School and Muswellbrook High School finished 15, where she played competition softball. She had a very difficult childhood and lived with her grandparents for awhile, but does remember a lot of fun times with her cousins.
Fays first job was as a meat packer at the Aberdeen Abattoir. She was pushing meat through a little window into the shop section one day when she saw a handsome man with a gold tooth shining. This man Ronald Kennedy (who was living in a tent outside of town working on the railway) later became Fay’s husband in 1959. They moved around following Ron’s work and promotions with the railway. Their first child Greg was born in 1962 at Werris Creek and after moving around some more they settled at Wyoming where their second child Karen was born in 1965. Ron and Fay separated in 1970 though they stayed friends for their children. Fay continued to raise Greg and Karen on her own.
Fays other jobs included a line worker with Albany felt, a pineapple and pharmacy plant. She managed a BBQ chicken and take away shop. When her children were young, she was one of the few female postal workers to deliver. She delivered mail around Matcham, she used to take her children with her while she was delivering the mail.
Fay had breast cancer in 1983 which resulted in a mastectomy and removal of her lymph nodes. She had to take medical retirement due to continual lymphedema.
Fay cared for her mother for many years until she had to be put into a nursing home. Fay continued visiting her mother daily and volunteering around the nursing home painting the resident's nails etc which they loved.
In her early 20s Fay played tennis which got very competitive. Later she became very crafty with sewing, painting, cake decorating, folk art. She also enjoyed coin and stamp collecting.
Fay's son Greg took her on her only overseas trip. In 2010, he took her and his niece to Disneyland in Los Angeles. Her daughter went also and Fay remembers sitting looking at the statue of Walt Disney holding Mickey Mouses hand and bursting into tears as she couldn’t believe she was on this trip with her family as her family is her life.
Fay was living with her daughter and son in law for many years as she was diagnosed with Dementia and Alzheimer’s but after spending time in hospital after several seizures and strokes the hospital suggested with this and her dementia that she should go into aged care which has been hard on both her and the family.
She now lives in a home at Norah head
Fay has 2 children, 3 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren. I met her Granddaughter Chantae when I did her pregnancy shoot and her daughter Vada’s newborn shoot. Fay not only has the pleasure of 4 direct generations for girls but they also have her middle name of Fay. Fay’s daughter is Karen Faye, Karen’s daughter is Chantae Fae and Chantae’s daughter is Vada Fae. Vada is pictured alongside Fay in some of these images. A special memory of her namesake.
