"TO BE
INTERESTED IN OTHERS IS THE MAIN THING IN LIFE"
Zena
Mary Lyon (nee
Zena was the fourth child in a family
of five. She had three older brothers
and a baby sister. When Zena was
only three years old her mother died aged 31.
This was a terrible tragedy for the family and, sadly, quite a common
event in those days. Eventually her
father remarried, but her stepmother was unkind to her stepchildren, favouring
her own three children. Zena remembers being very unhappy and made to feel unwanted
and worthless. The only thing that
helped her overcome this dreadful situation was the love, care and support
given to her by her three older brothers - "they were all wonderful to
me."
Zena’s first school was a classroom on the homestead where
her father worked. There were 10 children in the class and one tutor. When she was 10, she went away to school at
Coonabarabran. Her favourite subject was
sport, any kind of sport. She became an
excellent tennis player, playing in tournaments all around the country. Later she took up golf and became a very good
golfer. Zena
left school at 17 and worked on the farm, where there was plenty to do. She especially loved horse riding. They raised sheep and grew wheat on the farm.
War was
declared and in 1942 her friend Maisie and Zena went to
In 1945 Zena married Reg, whom she had known for a long time; in
fact they had been tennis partners and Reg also lived on a farm. They set up
home in Bellata between Narrabri and Moree.
They had three children, two girls and the boy. Now Zena has seven
grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
When Zena's husband Reg died in 1977, Zena returned to the workforce aged 55. She managed an Aged Care Facility for seven years. She enjoyed working there very much indeed
because she met so many interesting people.
Zena has always enjoyed meeting people and
understanding "what makes them tick." She is a great reader and she
really enjoys living at the RSL village, once again because there are so many
interesting people there.
Zena is a warm caring and cheerful person and she says,
"I could relive my adult life - I've been very happy."
Flat
by Zena
Lyon
I was born in Grenville
NSW. During the Second World War, I was
a nurse in the Army Medical Corps. I was
based at
Neither I nor the other nurse
could change a flat tyre. So I walked
back into town to the nearest service station and I asked the service station
assistant if he would come back to the ambulance to change the tyre. I explained that we had two seriously ill
soldiers to get back to the hospital as quickly as possible. I was deeply shocked when the man said ‘No he
wouldn't change the flat tyre.' His exact words were: "You took on a man's
job, you should be able to change a flat tyre."
I was very upset and I walked
along the street and asked the first man I met for help. He went with me and changed the tyre. The two soldiers were then driven to the
hospital as quickly as possible.
Sometime later, I met the service station assistant again. I said, "I know you, you're the man who
refused to change the flat tyre of my ambulance." The man looked very shamefaced and said that
he was sorry he reacted the way he did and apologised. Apparently his boss had given him a right
dressing down over the incident. Well,
after his apology we became friends.
After the war, when I fell in love
with Reg, who was to become my husband.
I told him about the incident of the flat tyre. Many years later, when my children had
reached the car driving age, they naturally wanted to learn to drive. However, Reg, who had never forgotten the
incident, told them that before they could learn to actually drive the car,
they must learn to change a flat tyre first.
Of course, they were all so keen to drive, that they soon learnt how to
change a flat tyre. Both my sons and
daughters can change a flat tyre to this very day. Unfortunately, I never did learn that
important skill.