Britta Beneke
Stories (3/0)
Embracing The Rain
Embracing The Rain Since childhood, Cara Burgess had a keen eye for spotting details. She grew up on a farm 50 miles outside of London, where she would go on long walks with her mum, Beth. Her mum had moved from Australia to the UK in the sixties after she inherited a farm from a deceased distant relative. Beth’s family, sheep breeders who lived hundreds of kilometres away from other houses, endured the wilderness. When Beth’s mum, Sarah, went into labour four weeks before the due date, the Flying Doctors arrived on time but didn’t expect twins. The baby girl weighed 3.250 kg and screamed on arrival. Her little brother came 5 minutes later, strangled by his own umbilical cord. Her entire life, Beth carried the impossible burden to replace him. She sensed and battled her parents’ never-ending grief at having lost their only son. Leaving Australia with her newlywed husband twenty years later proved to be a relief, a fresh start to a bright future. But England’s winters revealed harsher than she had imagined. The old farmhouse, stable and fences needed constant repair. Problems mounted because money was tight and neighbours far away. Their only child grew up cheerful and sweet to counterbalance the parent’s daily fights. Their little girl never complained about boring potato dishes, feeding the chickens, or lacking friends. A simple decision to homeschool Cara. Isolation would protect her from long bus rides, being bullied, and later being taken away by social services.
By Britta Beneke3 years ago in Humans