Of bricks and daughters

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately... it's pretty much expected when you're a student, I suppose. But it's not always scholarly thoughts that swirl around the brain, sometimes it's that awful, unanswerable question: "what if?"

It was my mother's 60th birthday on the weekend, a birthday she may not have seen had the fickle finger of fate been pointing in her direction on February 22 this year. Walking along Colombo Street that day, my mother and her colleague were both incredibly lucky to escape with relatively minor injuries after a mountain of bricks rained down on top of them in the earthquake. My mother lost a shoe; her workmate, a pair of glasses. It could have been so much worse.


On Sunday we gathered to celebrate that special 'round-number' birthday... and 4 generations of mothers and daughters were reminded of that moment with a cake, lovingly crafted with tongue firmly planted in cheek...

Featuring a replacement fondant shoe (obscured, rear brick) for mum, and what one assumes is a pair of glasses (top brick), for her colleague... who was also present at the party, along with her 3 year old daughter.

1001 things to do with bricks... much more fun than thinking about "what if?"

But it is precisely these kind of moments that make me want to document this process, to find out how other people got their news and information, and to see what lessons can be learned from this whole mess. In February, thanks to the wonders of technology (insert sneer here), I couldn't contact my mother until the following evening, when power was restored to their home and their cordless phones were working once more. My mother's cellphone had been left on her desk in the office that was now behind the cordon, and I was stuck on the other side of town in an unfamiliar suburb with hardly any petrol in my car, desperate for news.

For her birthday this year, my mother decided she already had enough 'things' and asked us all to add to their donation towards the rebuilding of the Court Theatre.

For Christmas, I'm buying her an analogue phone.

image hat-tip Kiwianarama

hmmm... 1001 things to do with phones....

Please hold, your call blog is important to us, and we'll answer it resume regular updates as soon as possible. Right after these this important final messages essay.