{"id":5086,"date":"2022-09-15T17:31:14","date_gmt":"2022-09-15T07:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/?p=5086"},"modified":"2022-11-10T15:03:09","modified_gmt":"2022-11-10T04:33:09","slug":"janette-parr-wins-august-wwwc-tomorrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/2022\/09\/janette-parr-wins-august-wwwc-tomorrow\/","title":{"rendered":"ANNOUNCEMENT: Janette Parr wins the August WWWC!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re pleased to announce the winner of the August WWWC: Janette Parr! Janette’s response to the prompt \u2018my father’s gift\u2019 is a bittersweet ode to a father with a penchant for procrastination.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Read Janette’s winning entry, \u2018Tomorrow\u2019, below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The pews are filled, but the faces are empty, drained. The organ pumps out sounds without meaning. I can’t find him here. Where are you, Dad?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

He died a week last Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was pushing ninety-five, but it was still a shock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~~~<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mam had been telling him for months he had to go and see the doctor.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Tomorrow. I’ll go tomorrow,’ he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then he always did. Say it, I mean. Doing was something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn’t so much that he said it to keep her quiet. It wasn’t even that he didn’t mean it.
It was just the way he dealt with most things \u2013 the way he was made, I suppose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Fix that tap, for cryin’ out loud, Joe!\u2019
\u2018Tomorrow, Rose. I’ll do it tomorrow.’
\u2018Get your hair cut, Joe. You don’t half look a mess.’
\u2018I’ll get it done tomorrow.’
\u2018Have a word with Pete about that dog, Joe. I’m at my wits\u2019 end.’
\u2018I’ll talk to ‘im tomorrow.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~~~<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The music runs out of ideas and stops. Now the minister’s saying something about ‘this devoted family man’. Which he was, but it’s the wrong word. It doesn’t even start to explain Dad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don’t think anyone ever could explain Dad. What everyone remembers are his funny ways. And the stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~~~<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It was a couple of days after I was born and Mam was trying to sort out what to call me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018We’ll talk about it tomorrow.’
\u2018We’ll talk about it today,’ Mam said, in her firm voice. \u2018The forms have to be filled in by tomorrow. Let’s call her Pat.’
\u2019No\u2019, Dad said, \u2018That’ll never do.’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

And he said a few rude things about a girl called Pat that he knew from the King’s Stag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018What about Sandra, then?\u2019
\u2018Think about it, lass. They’ll call her Sandy. Sandy Bottomley \u2013 that’s just asking for trouble.’
\u2019Alright,’ said Mam, \u2018what about Brenda, then?\u2019
\u2018Right,’ he said. \u2018Brenda it is. I’ll take the forms in tomorrow.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Brenda it was \u2013 well, more or less.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Tomorrow,<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Next morning, Dad went over to the registry office with my birth notice. But he missed out a letter and wrote ‘Benda’. Benda! I think he must have been on one the night before, to wet the baby’s head with Uncle Ted and Jackie from down the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he got back with the certificate, Mam spotted it straight away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Just look what you\u2019ve done!\u2019
\u2018Tomorrow,’ he said. \u2018I’ll get it sorted tomorrow.’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But it was too late. And Mam decided nobody would notice anyway.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When your name’s on your birth certificate I think that’s who you are forever. I didn’t even notice it myself until I was about 17, when I went to work for Johnson’s, in Flag Lane, and they asked me to bring in the paperwork. I knew I had to do something. Benda Bottomley! It sounded horrible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wondered if it would be all right to squeeze another letter in. Anyway, that’s what I did. I found a matching biro, and put the R in between the B and the E.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018You can’t do that,’ Mam said. \u2018It makes you illegitimate.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Course it doesn’t,’ I said. \u2018Anyway, it’s done now.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~~~<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I smooth out the service sheet I’ve been clutching in my hand. And then I find him. My father\u2019s gift, the same it\u2019s always been: his face smiling cheekily up at me and his own funny way of making me laugh. Under the photo, I read: ‘Loved and dearly missed by his wife, Rose, and daughter, Benda<\/em>‘.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I love you Dad.’ I whisper. My heart feels like it’s breaking, but I laugh away the tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomorrow. I’ll cry tomorrow.<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re pleased to announce the winner of the August WWWC: Janette Parr! Janette’s response to the prompt \u2018my father’s gift\u2019 is a bittersweet ode to a father with a penchant for procrastination. Read Janette’s winning entry, \u2018Tomorrow\u2019, below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-for-fun"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4v1Of-1k2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5086"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5200,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5086\/revisions\/5200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}