During her high school years, Karen lived in Tamworth with her mother, Margaret and two youngest brothers. Margaret had remarried at the end of 1970, and this brought a stepfather, Richard, and stepsister, Sandra, into the household. Her oldest brother, Alex, was at university in Armidale, and her sister, Mary at the Teachers College, also in Armidale. Karen saw them rarely.
At first, when Alex went up to Uni., he had a motorcycle, and he used to ride his bike down to Tamworth. He would say that the food at the college where he was living was not as good as home, and would come down on a Sunday at midday, in time for the usual roast dinner.
In time, he bought a car, and brought the friends he had made along as well, so his family got to know his friends from Uni. The siblings were fascinated, as Alex’s friends were very different, and talked of subjects they hadn’t even thought of, such as the Vietnam war (they were in the ballot for conscription) and the use of recreational drugs or hallucinatory plants.
There was John with the halo of hair, Veronica, Andrew, Chris who ate so slowly, Lucy, Rosie, Phil with a limp and Bob. The family met few girls, although the young men talked of them.