Dear Foxy,

We met Phillip Nitschke several times and arranged for him to speak at a banquet in Brisbane. At the close of his speech the head of the organisation raced to the podium and disassociated herself from the views expressed. Since he was merely a speaker and not a member or representative of the organisation that was unnecessary, but he frightens some people.

I admire your caring for your in-laws. I don’t know if your father-in-law’s book of accounts was a physical one, but it reminds me of Xiao Xiao. About seventeen years ago a Chinese friend of ours was a student in Adelaide. Her husband unexpectedly came over from China with their six year old girl and started fighting with her. She flew up and dropped the child off with us in Brisbane to get her out of the scene of the conflict. So there we were with a Chinese kid who couldn't speak a word of English. We put her in the local school where she appeared to relate to the other kids. The Board of Ed had a Chinese speaking teacher come in once a week to talk to her. I had a Chinese friend who occasionally interpreted. So as not to separate her from the other kids we put her in religious ed class. She came back to the house singing, "Who is Jesus?" As an antidote I taught her "Yessir, that's my baby." She liked it much better, and WIJ was put aside. We still can do a snappy duet of YTMB. Anyhow we have kept in touch, and she still comes up here for vacations. She is Australianized and has become Elise instead of Xiao Xiao. Her mother got a divorce, a PhD and now is a distinguished professor.

While Xiao Xiao was still in China she stayed with her father’s parents. Her father told them to keep account of her misdeeds. When her father came to visit on the weekend he would consult the record and beat her. The marks were still there on her little body when she came to us.

Dear David f,

Thank you for telling me about your chinese friend and
her daughter.

Yes, my father-in-law did keep a physical account of
everything. He wrote it all down neatly into a little
black book and would quote it back to me on special
occasions, like my birthday.

The straw the broke the camel's back took place when
I came home early from work one winter's evening to
find my younger son sitting outside in the yard.
It was raining and cold. While my older son (father-in-law's
favourite) was inside with his grandfather
enjoying a chocolate cake.

When I asked my younger son why was he outside, he
replied that he'd been "bad," and grandfather had put
him outside as punishment. The child was 3 years old.

It wasn't long after that we moved out. My father-in-law
wouldn't speak to me for a few months, and did not come
to say goodbye when we moved out.