Dear Murray

Where to start??

First contact was made at Nedlands College of Advanced Education when you started in first year with Nyanda. You were the skinny, country kid (only 17 years old) from somewhere near Albany. I was two years older and far too mature(!) to befriend a first year, but I remember you turning up at the place Nyanda and I lived in Floreat for an end of year do. We probably even said “Hello” to each other! You remained part of Nyanda’s social milieu because you were one of the nice blokes in the Phys Ed year group. I reckon we might have said “Hello” again a few more times in the early 80s.

Forward to 1985 and John Forrest SHS when I joined the teaching staff and you were a regular relief teacher. Both of us professionals by then, instructing the young people of the Morley area on the arts and skills of health and physical education. I think you might have covered for David Bell as he ran around the world with his hockey stick winning Champions Trophies and World Cup medals.

Sometime in the 80s you might have bumped into Rod playing footy in Perth, probably literally. Both of you skillful runners – something you have managed to maintain over the decades while Rod had retreated to lower impact pursuits. Rod was impressed with your running ability!

Next thing you become the Jump Rope For Heart man and I have students jumping rope at John Forrest, doing skipping tricks and raising money for the Heart Foundation. It looks like a good place to work so I join you there in 1989 and by then Rod and Pam are on the scene and we all become good friends. I remember the first time you came for dinner at our place in West Perth and Rod made a ‘deep dish pizza’ which was full of cheese and hardly heart healthy, but we survived it and there started our regular meals together. Often times (weekly or fortnightly) there were trips between West Leederville and West Perth for shared meals and yarns.

In early 1991 you helped us celebrate our marriage and three weeks later we watched you and Pam wed. Weren’t we all young and gorgeous.

Rod and I lived for a while in the ranger’s cottage at Coalmine Beach near Walpole and I remember you and Pam staying with us. There was one memorable trip when the Heart Foundation car arrived with a kangaroo-shaped dent in it.

We moved back to Perth and the West Leederville/West Perth shared meal thing re-started, but with an addition. You welcomed our baby Kate into the mix and sometimes the porto-cot made its way into your house while we sipped wine and laughed away an evening.

The call of Albany and wine-making and rural life saw you move south and take up work with the local public health service. We happily visited your temporary home near Strawberry Hill farm and watched the marvelous development of your home, garden and vineyard put on Link Road. We marveled at how you embraced passive solar design and permaculture principles, inspiring us to do something similar a couple of years later.

Your dedication and hard work were so very impressive and the results were magnificent. Many times we visited to see the latest development of house and farm, following you around to look at the materials you had gathered to painstakingly restore and use in the building of your new home. There is a rich palate of memories of the property being converted from farm paddocks to organic garden, vineyard and home. Your patience, focus and incredible work ethic were awesome to witness. You and Pam had a vision and the results were (are) beautiful.

Rod and I treasured the times that you and Pam visited us in Pemberton. The two of you even stayed with us at the Pemberton Farm chalets when we made our first reconnaissance of Pemby town with our toddler and new born baby in tow (what were we thinking!). The two of you made frequent visits to Pemby, joining us for the wine balls and many other adventures besides. There was a time when we both worked for the Southern Health Authority, endeavouring to make the South West and Great Southern regions healthier places to live.

By the mid 2000s, we moved to Karrinyup and you managed to find us there on a regular basis, as house guests and for shared meals. I remember you spent time with us while rehabilitating after knee surgery and Ellies’s young cat Chilli took a liking to you, not appreciating that you didn't like cats. She took to lying on you as you rested on the couch with knee elevated.

It has been a pleasure to maintain our friendship over a long time Murray. Our shared meals are not as frequent as they used to be, but I love nothing more than enjoying dinner in your home, eating food that you and Pam have lovingly grown and prepared. I have an image of you coming into the kitchen with a basket of fresh produce in your arms, your face a big grin. Your calm, patient ways of being are delightful and your ready smile is always appreciated.

Murray you have barely changed in the 40+ years I have known you. Still lean and fit, always thoughtful and positive. Rod added some words too – loyal, constant, kind and determined. He loves that you set your mind to do something and you get about doing it, always achieving the desired results with good grace and calm satisfaction.

Something tells me that you will be around for quite some time Murray. You've got the genes and the healthy lifestyle, and you are more like a 40 year old than a 60 year old! We look forward to a few adventures and a glass or two of wine over the next 20 years at least.

Many Happy returns Murreth.

With love and respect, always

Sharon and Rod