Thank you all for your kind remarks, I appreciate your comments.
I have just re read what I wrote, and as one reply commented it does sound very "matter of fact".... I guess thats the way I look at it now, and probably looked at it then. When it was happening, it didnt seem like a tragedy, except for the fact that my parents separated, which is hard to handle for any child, no matter what the circumstances...and back then, having divorced parents wasnt as common as it is now, so that was more embarrassing to divulge to my friends.
Once I married, and had children of my own, I saw a different prospective of things...the gay thing still didnt bother me, (although I still did not tell people that my dad was gay)...but I could look at him now as a father, from a parent point of view, and realized that it was still best that he decided to lead the life he chose, mostly in fairness to my mother.
Now, when I think of my mother, she is my hero, she had the strength to let him go to lead the life that she, in those times, was not too sure about anyway.I do remember as a child, before they separated, having contact with a few lovely men who were visitors to our home, and in conversations I have had since, with my mum,been told that they were my dad's friends, homosexuals, who were not only welcomed into our home by my dad, but by my mum as well....she actually tolerated it, in her marriage, until the time came for her to let go.
I think of how frightened she must have been in those times, to be alone with a 7yr old and a 10yr old daughter.We moved to Sydney, which was 100 miles away from where we had lived, (Dad and his new partner also moved to Sydney too).
Remember we are talking about the late 50's here....My mum got full time work on an assembly line in a factory, we lived in one room in a boarding house for a while, then some small flats (apartments), until, about 12months later my mum met my future step-father, who with mum, bought a house, where i lived with them until i married.Dad was always welcome to the house to visit, and on many occassions, he and his partner were invited to Christmas Dinner with us.(so the thanksgiving dinner scene in the movie, was similar to what our christmas dinner table was like).
When Dad took his life, my mum was very sad, and grieved his passing.
I think the thing that makes mum my hero, is the fact that she didnt tell me anything about my dad, until I started asking her questions about him.There were a few occassions when she got angry with him about decisions with us kids, and they had an argument, but she still didnt use her anger to put shit on him.I realize what a strong woman she has been, it must not have been easy for her. She is 80 this year, and widowed, but about six months ago, she met up with a man in the village she was living in, and now her and him have moved into their own private unit in town, and are like a couple of school kids together...he is 89....she is very very happy....and I think the reason for that is she still has the ability and the emotions to feel love and companionship, so its no wonder she is my hero.
So, I concede that my life hasnt been what you would call, a "normal" one, but, I have had two wonderful parents who had plenty of love for each other, their partners and their children, and I dont mean to end this on a sad note, but the only tragedy in my life, was losing my sister in 1971, when she was 22yrs old, in a boating accident, that was the tragedy of my family, and that is what saddens me the most, because that was so unfair, and she deserved to be here longer than 22 yrs, thats for sure.....
I also want to say, that since seeing the movie, and then joining the message board fraternity, I have written more about my life story, than even more than my closest friends ever knew, and it therefore made me recognise that I should be telling them my story too, and so I have done that now, and as close friends do, they have embraced me, with love and understanding, and gratitude for trusting them enough, to divulge all my "hidden secrets".
Thank you all here too, for doing the same.....and once again, I go back to the fact, that one movie, one wonderful movie, has had so much influence on me...no wonder it is in my soul...