I remember being so thrilled to the very
core when dad called the bushdances at
Summerschool- itwas just so somuch fun
and thanks todadwehad thisannual fun!
ThequintessentialBushdance isdefinitely
inmybones!
I remember when I was very little dad
would ask me, in front of Baha’is, the
same question, “Rachel, why are you so
beautiful?”and Iwouldalwaysreply, tothe
indulgent chuckles of the adults, “because
I am just likemyDaddy”!
IrememberwhenIwas littleandhadfallen
asleepat variouseventsDadhad takenme
toandhewouldpickmeupandputme in
the car, takeme home, take offmy shoes
and out me into bed. Except sometimes
hewould forget to takeoffmy shoes and I
would take themoffmyself in themiddle
of the night. I always felt that he was so
bigandstrongwhenhecarriedme- likehe
wasabigpapabear!
I remember when we were in Indonesia
travelling along winding mountainous
roads to a place calledBukitingi. Dadwas
inaseparatecartomeandhehadforgotten
togivememytravel sicknesstabletswhich
were verymuchneeded as I was, and still
am, verymotionsick.Heknew Iwouldget
really unwell because he had forgotten so
heprayed toBaha’u’llahandasked that the
sickness that was headed my way would
go to him instead. Unaware of all of this,
I travelled perfectly well and happily the
whole trip and when I saw dad I learned
thathehadbeenviolently ill vomiting the
whole trip.
I remember swimming at the beach on
a choppy day and getting dumped by
the waves and feeling really frightened.
Suddenly I felt dadpullmeup andhe just
stoodmeupholdingmenext tohimuntil
Iwasok- thanksdad!
Irememberdadusedtopickuphitchhikers
even at night and sometimes I was in the
car too- that was a bit of a conversation
stopper!
I remember lots of long road trips, some
to Aboriginal Communities to visit the
Indigenous Baha’is there- dad always
treated everyone as a friend and wanted
to share themessage thatwas so true and
dear to his heart with everyone. It was
these great trips up north that made me
decidetospendmyYouthyearofService in
Alice Springs and surrounding Aboriginal
communities.
I remember sometimes dad got pulled
over for speeding, and on one of these
occasionshesaid to theofficer thathewas
sorry, hehadbeen singing tohisdaughter
and hadn’t realised he was speeding. It
was true! We had been singing lots of
sings together which I loved- Journey’s
End songs I knew by heart in every part
becauseofall thetimes IhadseenDadand
Mal perform them together sobeautifully.
When Iwasababyandvisitors
wouldcomeoveratnightmum
wouldsay that ‘thebabywassleep-
ing’butDadwouldgo tomybassi-
netandwakemeup toshowmeoff
to thevisitors!
