Today is the beautiful May's 90th birthday!
Some of her family secretly arranged this Golden Age session & made the drive to Forster to collect her & bring her to the farm in May for me to capture her. Then they surprised the rest of the family with her photos at her party on the weekend.
I absolutely love seeing a family member being valued & honoured like this. May is surrounded with so much love & admiration.
May Doreen Kennedy ( formerly Bradford ) born at Lismore base hospital on July 21st 1935
She had 4 siblings 2 brothers and 2 sisters. Sadly, one of the brothers has passed.
Their Parents both worked in hospital at Coraki for a time, but everyday life was on their dairy farm. the children were required to help milk the cows twice a day, so they completed morning duties before school. May remembers riding the horses daily, after milking. They rode 1/2 a mile to pick up the bread and ice for the ice chest to keep the food cold for the day.
May considers herself fortunate to have felt very loved and had a great childhood.
Her hobbies included playing some tennis at a friend's house. May attended Blakebrook school where her uncle was the teacher.
She recalled being at school during the war and being able to hear the planes overhead. The school had trenches dug around the grounds which the children were directed to hide in during the flyovers.
She then Went to Lismore high school, obtaining an Intermediate certificate and leaving at 15 years.
Her first job was at McLeans showroom in Lismore as a salesperson. It was a clothing store.
She met her husband at 17 when he asked her to dance at the Goolmangai hall.
They Married when she was 19 at St Andrew’s church Lismore 18th September 1954
After they married, they moved to a share farm in Rosebank which was owned by his parents
She was taught to drive by her husband in Morris minor.
They Had their first child when May was 20, this was followed by 3 more children over the years they had 2 boys and 2 girls under 5 years.
After 8 years they moved off the farm to Coraki
May did some work at the hospital cleaning, including the matrons hut, and as a seamstress
They bought a caravan and travelled for 2.5 years with 4 kids. They spent some time on the Gold Coast her husband put in a lot of the canals for the waterfront living.
Her husband eventually ended up working in Gosford area then bought in Woy Woy for 30 years.
In 1993, May suffered a terrible Injury to her hand while holding a Koppers log her husband was sawing through. She had lost her index finger and thumb, luckily, they were able to reattach the thumb. May said she had to learn how to bowl left handed as it was one of her pastimes.
After around 32 years they moved to Forster, as they had Friends that lived there. Sadly, May lost her husband in 2000 due to a gangrene infection which had originally been caused due to dialysis complications.
In 2010 May met Alf at lawn bowls, and they struck up a wonderful companionship. They still maintained residence separately, but travelled together. He sadly passed away late last year from Cancer at almost 97 years old.
May still lives in her own home
She does get some help with maintenance but otherwise is very self sufficient. She still drives herself over to the raffles at Sports club at Tuncurry once a week, and is the longest serving member in the Forster travel club
May is extremely proud of her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. She has 14 wonderful grandchildren, and 24 great grandchildren who she loves and considers herself very lucky to have.
