Thersa

Thersa Amelia Hillier (nee Patten) Born 1917 Wagga Wagga "Legs were made for walking and tongues were made for talking!" When I called on Thersa at her central Wagga home two years ago, she answered my knock with a shout of "Coming!", followed by the tapping of her walking stick treading the boards towards me at the front door. Inside, her home was filled with the things she loved; the original furnishings of her family home, her prized doll collection she'd dressed especially for my visit, and the energy of Theresa herself, generous and quirky. I sat with Thersa

a short time and she showed me her family album. Originally from Tallimba in New South Wales' Central West, Thersa married in 1935 in West Wyalong wearing the wedding dress she made herself. Thersa and her husband produced eight children before he was killed tragically in a car accident. She never remarried, "I was never asked!" she laughed.