Feb 11 2011

My Parents Were Awesome – The Website

My cousin Rick has always been cool. 

When I was little, he drove an old army jeep, gave me my first Beatles record (bootleg, no less), played on the wing in the GPS premiership winning First XV, and regularly took me out on his surf mat at Palm Beach.

When I was in third grade, by some strange co-incidence his then girlfriend (Susie) was the unfortunate student teacher assigned to teach us some drama. My connection through Rick meant that I got to play the lead part in ‘Rinse the Blood Off My Toga‘.

Flavius Maximus was my character, and he had a Humphrey Bogart accent.
“I couldn’t believe my ears! Big Julie was dead!”

It was the only lead role I ever got.

I remember that Peter Hill played a convincing Calpurnia, Mrs Caesar.

Anyway, my cousin Annabelle, Ricks daughter, also thinks her father and mother Prue were awesome, and has blogged about it. 

For reasons I can’t understand, I suspect she finds his 1970’s fashion sense somewhat entertaining 🙂

On her blog, Bella says “It’s easy to forget that once upon a time, our parents weren’t parents. They weren’t called Mum or Dad. Their lives didn’t revolve around us. They partied, they dated, they studied, they travelled the world. They were, shock horror, just like us”

In fact, sharing the grooviness that was your parents before you were born is a very popular activity, judging by the website that inspired Annabelle’s post – ‘My Parents Were Awesome‘. It contains thousands of photos of parents in their prime, uploaded by their children from all over the world. That site has spawned a book, and been featured on ABC Network news.

The creator of ‘My Parents Were Awesome‘, Eliot Glazer, sees it as a tribute – I think. “Before the fanny packs and Andrea Bocelli concerts, your parents (and grandparents) were once free-wheeling, fashion-forward, and super awesome.”

You can judge for yourself at My Parents Were Awesome, http://myparentswereawesome.tumblr.com

(Bella’s blog is kind enough to remind us that her parents are still awesome. Go Rick and Prue.)

 

 

2 Responses to “My Parents Were Awesome – The Website”

1. Nell says:

   February 13, 2011 at 11:20 am

   Love all the old photos

   Reply
2. Rosi Rabbit says:

   February 15, 2011 at 6:27 am

   Rick I forgot what a dude you are mate. I can’t keep up with all this blogging, but its excellent to read. Thank god for relations who can read, write and spell……

   Reply