“I was born in 1942 just down from Les Girls in the Cross where Gough Whitlam ended his days but in those days it was a maternity facility. I grew up in the coal country in the Southern Highlands until I was 11. I had glorious freedom. I would ride my bicycle with my cat on my shoulder. I still go there in my dreams when I’m asleep as it was such a beautiful time.
A friend rang me from Adelaide the other day and she was telling me about a Dalmatian. It reminded me of a poem I wrote when I was just 6 years old and I will do it for you now…
‘The dog has got the measles, the cat has got the mumps.
The dog is very spotty and the cat has 2 big bumps.
We took them to the vet and they said not yet
less they mix with other cats and dogs
In case they give them both their wogs.
The cat and dog said that’s no fun
Just convalescing in the sun.’
I started busking when I was a child with a child’s accordion. I went up to the Cross and I played for 3 years and once I earned 30c which was a lot then. I just saw A Star is born. I love Lady Gaga and I’ve learnt a few of her songs over the years.
I wanted to be a dancer and I had one lesson. The next minute I’m being driven down to Royal North Shore Hospital and strapped down to a frame by my legs. I could still move my arms and head. Prior to that I was in Margaret Reid Orthopaedic Hospital where I was also tied down. In those days it was traction. I remember once getting out of bed and reading my hospital chart which said I had TB hip but I actually had Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was diagnosed as child and I remember having my 13th birthday in hospital. At one stage I was plastered from just under my bust to my toe. It was a hot summer and the itch was horrendous. My mother would visit me with roast potatoes which wasn’t a good thing for a very sedentary person. So coming through my childhood as a cripple I had to give away the dancer wish and now my fingers dance on my accordion. I went home and my mother would wheel me around on a tray mobile. I spent my days listening to the radio.
I was diagnosed as a juvenile schizophrenic. My mother was very upset by me. She used to say, What have I done to deserve this? I used to think, What can I do to make my mother happy? She always said I should see a Psychiatrist but I was too fragile and I thought they would lock me up and I’d never get out. I found out I was Schizophrenic on a train. It was late and I could hear all these people saying really mean things like ‘She should get her hands chopped off, she should be locked up’ and I thought they don’t know me. I turned around to say ‘How dare you speak of me that way’ and I was the only person in the carriage. I didn’t believe the diagnosis but after that I did. At that time I was living in a basement which had trenches full of nuts and bolts. I obviously was mad because I was sleeping on a piece of blue nylon fabric on a rock slab. It was damp and awful. I was given medication and it made me so out of it, I could hardly stay awake. I threw that medication away and I still hear the voices but I’m happy and I can cope. I was 31 and it wasn’t until I went to the Nimbin Festival I felt strong enough to go through with it. I went and saw a Dr and they put me on what my friend calls the silly pension.
I ended up going to England, walked a tightrope in Fratellini’s French Circus school. I learnt how to stilt walk, ride a unicycle, juggle and I played the piano accordion. I stayed overseas for 4 years.
On a day to day basis some people do say cruel things to me. In Sydney when I would busk, beautiful girls would say ‘Who’d want to sleep with her!’ I often felt very hurt. I say to people .…Please be kind! I can’t feed the pigeons here anymore because a woman reported me to council saying I was spreading disease. I always swept up the seed they didn’t eat. Disease is in the soil and very rare in Australia. The woman is American and got her info from a site in the states where disease from pigeons is bad in Ohio. I miss them. They are so tame and I have names for them all. One would sit on my knee while I played.
When I was a child I always wanted long plaits. I went into a chemist shop and bought some darning wool, a bottle of Clag glue and a polka dot ribbon. I made the plaits and glued them to my hair. My mother had big green eyes. If she was frightened or angry her pupils would go like pin pricks. I can still see her tight lips and her angry expression. She scrubbed my head with frozen fingers. My mother always told me long hair didn’t suit me and would get it cut off. Once I spent an entire day up a pine tree to avoid the haircut. It was beautiful with the breeze and the smell of the pine needles. I got hungry so I went home for dinner. I remember Harry Belafonte’s wife had a picture in the weekly and she had plaits. My mother said how ridiculous! A woman of that age with plaits but I thought I will have plaits when I am older. I remember as a child seeing a wonderful woman with black hair and a green velvet dress and all the awful women were saying mutton dressed up as lamb. I thought she was fabulous and I wanted to be like her when I grew up.
I went to London and a friend couldn’t do a gig that just happened to be at The Rolling Stones with a 40,000 strong audience. Mick Jagger sashayed up to me. I was dressed as the clown with huge bosoms and a bottom carved out of foam with my big golden Wattle bra. I was also selling raffle tickets afterward for handicapped and deprived children. I was invited to a party with The Stones afterward but I was so exhausted I fell asleep in the bus instead. I did have a nice experience selling raffle tickets at Wembley. John Denver bought several pounds worth.
I moved to Lismore in 2012. I live with a housemate who is an academic and I think I drive him mad. He’s a very kind person who does so much for others. His name is John Trigger. He’s done a couple of TV commercials. One is on a Boating Camping Fishing ad. They put him in a wetsuit, gave him a big fish and a spear and filmed him underwater. He’s 78 with this wild hair and beard. He looks amazing. It’s really thanks to John that I have dealt with my Schizophrenia as I could have ended up like poor Miriam who died in hospital from neglect. He’s a very kind man. He has put up with me for 43 years. He came over to Australia when my mother died. John came over and was an advocate for me and made sure that I had a roof over my head.
Fifteen months education is all I have had during my entire life. I never went to high school but I have a high IQ. It amazes me how much I know. I’ve always wanted to sing and I’ve always been told to shut up so when I came to Lismore I joined The Healing Voices choir. We were supposed to do a show down at The Quad but the rains came so we couldn’t do it. I wrote a verse for a flood song and it went like this.… Dogs and little boys rescued in a tinny, sad loss of song books ruined at The Winnie (Winsome). We write our own songs and cover songs too. I love Lismore and I’m so grateful to all the lovely people who support me. Night Owl give me free coffee. They only charge $2 for a coffee so the poor homeless can afford to have a coffee.“
(Moppy has seen a piano accordion at Carrington Bazaar, 81 Keen St Lismore. It’s $500 and absolutely beautiful. She has tried it out and is in love with it. Moppy’s old accordion is held together with so much gaffer tape. I have spoken to Adam about starting a jar for Moppy. He said, Funny you should say that, we have thought the same thing. He already had $55 in it. If just 80 of us throw in $5 Moppy will get the best Christmas present ever. I know Lismore humans are the best when it comes to caring. I will keep you updated, Love Denise)