From:   Moonflower231 | Sent: 7/10/2005 12:26 p.m. |
| Dearest Whanau, Late last night Dennis rang me with some rather sad, frightening in a sense, and kinda scary news. He told me that someone, something, or somebodies, burnt down Aunty Polly's old house, and then Nanna's house up the Farm, or what was left of it  was also torched. Now, I am unsure of the timing of when this happened, but Dennis said this happened about two weeks ago. Dennis told me that as he spends a lot of his time in Otaki, he was unaware that this had happened, and only found out when Tiri Bailey saw Irene in the Supermarket and told her. This was maybe a week ago. As the kid in the ad says - "This I don't understand". How or why did it take so long for him to find out? I did say to Dennis, as harsh as this may seem, this may be a blessing in disguise. At Uncle Hip's tangi, I was told of the plans our brother had for demolishing the house and taking it away "somewhere" for disposal. I for one was against this, and if I hadn't have been feeling so pathetic, apathetic and procrastinating every little decision that was to be made in my life at present, I would've done something about it. I did get to do a draft copy of a letter that was going to be sent to our whanau, but couldn't make up my mind whether to send it or not. The decision on what happened to it was 'taken out of our hands' so to speak. Maybe that was the best thing that could've happened........................? I'd like to say I'm sorry for what happened, and in a way I am. There will be nothing up there anymore to look at. Even if it was a broken down, falling down old house. There were a lot of memories for the entire whanau. The memories will still live on in our hearts and our minds, but the 'physical' will be gone. However, now that it has gone, no one has the heartache of looking at a decrepit falling down house anymore, feeling sad at the state of what was Nanna's home, and what it had become. I'm sorry if this letter has a harsh ring to it. It's not meant to, and I hope I haven't offended anyone. There are just some things surrounding this that seem unreal, surreal and at the moment I can't seem to get my head around them. Time to make a journey back home I think. Maybe things will sort themselves out when I go back. Lotsalove Rona |
2 comments:
From: Margret Sent: 8/10/2005 7:31 p.m.
Dear Rona
Thanks for letting us know about the house's demise. I remember seeing the damage done to Aunty Polly's home when in Waitara during Dad's tangi.
Not many people would have known of the Rona Road house, in my opinion, and the appearance of anyone up there would have surely been one who knew of it: even the connection to the Norman Street property of Nana's sister's Waitara home.
Dennis had said about the discussion he had had with his siblings regarding the house re-moval and that you all were to have a time when you were there, all or as many of you who could come, to oversee the operation.
As our 27 Blake Street original home was demolished and a new house/home built, I know that new memories are developed based on the new one's experiences and that you can fondly remember the old house.
Love from Margret
From: MariLynetteMcD Sent: 10/10/2005 2:33 a.m.
Dear Rona,
Having read over and over your letter regarding the torching of the Fenton Homestead on Rona Road,I fully agree with you that this is sad,frightening in a sense and scary news.
The fact that the Homestead at the end of a Road with houses situated at the Property entrance along with a House actually on the property,was set alight and no one was observed performing this act,no one was seen leaving the property and no vehicles were spotted on this isolated section of Road,really leaves a lot to be desired.
The memories of those early days when the Family lived there in the Homestead I will always cherish,having been born there,living there with my Nana and Pop,my Parents,my Aunties and Uncles,these are memories one will never ever forget.On my last two visits to the Farm I never felt heartache viewing the old Homestead,I did feel heartache though when seeing that the Farm had become a graveyard for stripped motor vehicles.
Like you Rona I feel things surrounding this "Torching"do seem unreal and I cannot get my head around it either,however two things are for sure,the Homestead has not been torched by ghosts,which means that someone unknown has a definate Agenda,which will probably become known to us all in the future,
Arohanui,Mari
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