Nita Gleeson is a lady of the land. A true throwback to days past, and forever with a smile on her face. Honest as the day is long, she sugarcoats nothing, and her candour is incredibly refreshing. A mad Broncos fan, her room at Haydays Retirement Hostel is peppered with the maroon and yellow of her team. “I’ve been a fan of the Broncos since Wally Lewis,” she said with a smile. “Those days were different back then; the players would come out and mix with the crowd after the game.” Nita recalls her mother never drank or smoked, and had excruciating arthritis. She could not walk by the age of 63, and sadly passed away at the age of 64. Nita herself has weathered a few storms; suffered a broken neck and three strokes. “It’s ironic, I am still walking around, God only takes the good,” she said stoically. Her children come up several times during the course of our chat, it is plain to see Nita is incredibly proud of them, her grandchildren and great grandchildren. All of Nita’s daughters, Kelly, Shirley and Michelle ended up in the nursing and carers sector. Shirley put herself through her nursing education, Kelly works at Hay Hospital and Haydays, and Michelle also is in the nursing sector. Her sons, Tommy and Michael, were both shearers for many years. Michael is now Irrigation Manager at Toogimbie, and Tommy works for Rowan and Sarah Houston on their property. “They have all done so well for themselves,” Nita said. “I am so proud of them all.” Nita recalls being a rather spoiled girl when she was young, getting up to all sorts of antics, as children often do. “I would throw a tantrum because I wanted to ride the horse at midnight, or if it was raining, I always wanted to be on my horse. I would jump off the tin fence straight onto the horse’s back and ride, I never thought about what that was like for the poor horse,” she chuckled. “I used to hate babies as a child, and had little patience. Once I tied up my sister so I could wash my hair. Another time, I tied up my cousin so I could gallop without her following me. “She would chase me along every day, asking for a ride on the horse, and would fall off every day. “That never stopped her though.” Nita’s grandfather would ride the horse and sulky into town to work every day. He would leave at 8am, and saddle up at 7am. “I would meet my boyfriend, Henry, who was an electrician and TV technician, from 7 until 9,” Nita recalled. “Then, before I would go to school, I’d tell Grandpa it was time for him to go to work and he wouldn’t realise what I had done.” Nita’s first boyfriend, Dennis. known as Henry, would become her first husband. They had been seeing each other since Nita was 14, and Henry was 19. They married when Nita was 16. “He was sadly killed at the age of 32,” she said. “We didn’t part on bad terms, it was just his time in the army meant we grew apart, and we went our separate ways.” Tragically, Nita lost a baby five months along while she was married to Henry, something which was not spoken about much in society in those days. “A lot of women in the 60s experienced this, and it broke their hearts,” she recalled. “The way people deal with it these days is so much better; having a funeral, naming the baby and going through the process. In those days, sometimes they were just thrown in the incinerator, and mums had to figure it out on their own.” It would be five years before Nita would become pregnant again. “I would look at babies in prams and cry, I never thought I would have any of my own,” she said. “Five years or so later when I was in a little town called Skipton in Victoria, I had an operation, which set things right, and now I have five beautiful children.” Nita met Morrie when she was walking down Lachlan Street one day. Morrie walked out of one of the shops, and the pair hit it off. They were married, and by the time Nita was 20 they were near Albury for Morrie’s work as a shearer. “They had just sacked the shearer’s cook, and I had to step in and do it,” she said. “I was nervous, but Morrie knew what they wanted; fresh cakes, sandwiches, stews and the like. “They would want more than just one thing at a meal, so if I cooked a stew, I would make a salad to go along with it.” She was the first one up in the morning and the last one to go to bed at night. “You wouldn’t get a lot of sleep as a shearer’s cook,” Nita recalled. “We would travel a lot, to Adelaide, and throughout Queensland and Victoria. “The only place I went to by myself was Tasmania.” Nita had a few car accidents, each of them in a Mini. Her mini had just come from the mechanics, and she recalls the mechanic telling her not to take it on dirt roads, but she did it anyway. “After the accident, people told me to sue him, but I said no because he warned me and I did not listen,” Nita said in her straightforward manner. Nita recalls she was pregnant with Michael when she had the car accident which broke her neck and also injured two of her children, Tommy and Shirley. Tommy suffered a broken right femur, and Shirley had left arm paralysis, and a skull fracture. Kelly removed Shirley from the car, as she was frightened the car would catch alight, and carefully laid her down on the ground, and then removed Tommy, putting a pillow under his head. Kelly then ran after young Michelle, who was running down the road crying out for her dad. A nurse returning home to Griffith came upon the accident, rendered assistance, and called for help. When the Royal Flying Doctor Service was ready to take Nita and her children to Adelaide, torches and lanterns had to be held along the runway so the plane could take off, as it was night by then. They were taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital. “When I woke up, I was assured my two children were here with me,” Nita said. “I panicked, because I have four. When you wake up and are told about your two children, you think the worst. Ernie and Val Cox drove all the way to Adelaide with the other two, to see me and reassure me they were OK.” Nita was six months pregnant with Michael at the time of the accident. “They tried to deliver him early three times, but I refused each time. It was too early,” she said. Morrie signed the form to allow the medical staff to deliver Michael early, as they explained to him Nita would have a better chance of making it. “I refused,” Nita said. “They wheeled me into theatre three times to try and take him and I refused. "Mary Smith, the Registered Nurse always gave me hope. "She said, “Where there is life, there is hope,” and I went by that. "And Michael turned out fine and was the most athletic of them all.” When Michael was young, he earnt the nickname Freak. This was because he could run all the way from the irrigation area into town. He played almost every sport there was; cricket, all codes of football, and would head away to represent in swimming at a state level, return home and immediately head to cricket or whatever sport it was at the time. Nita spent six weeks in hospital after the accident which broke her back, and was very grateful family and friends stepped up to help with the children during this time. Both hands were in plaster, and she was in traction for this time. Four nurses would come and rotate her every two hours, and Nita looked forward to this. She went straight back to work after being allowed out of hospital which, was against doctor’s orders.Her hands did not heal properly, although it never held her back. “We went to Menindee and Wilcannia as soon as I got out of hospital, and I cooked for 14 crutchers, four jackaroos and one governess,” she said. “The plaster came off and the pins started sticking through, but the doctor said they couldn’t do anything as I’d gone back to work too early.” Shirley recovered amazingly, and Val Cox helped rehabilitate her. Tommy was in plaster and Mick Cox cut down a pram to create something Tommy could use to get around in. Her daughter Kelly was seven at the time of the accident, and Nita recalls her being a tower of strength. “At her young age she walked the other children to school, and worked hard to take care of everyone,” Nita said. “She has always been a hard worker. She looked after everyone every day.” In Nita’s time, she had her truck licence, fixed windmills with Morrie, was a shearer’s cook and lived life on the land with Morrie, who was a shearer. There was no rest for Nita, and that was the life she loved. Nita would return to work immediately after giving birth, and work up until she was ready to deliver the next child. “I worked for a lot of local growers in my time too, picking,” she said. “I’d always had to be a worker all my life, and that’s the way it was.” Nita cherished the times she would spend six months of the year in Tasmania, when Michelle lived there. “We went all over Tassie,” she recalled. “We would go over on the boat and come back on the plane, and the trip over was half the fun. I would stand on the deck and enjoy the trip. "Morrie did not like boats or planes so he wouldn’t come, he stayed in Hay. “When Morrie had cancer, he had to be fed via his nose, but he did not need to go to hospital for anything. “The girls took turns in caring for him, so he was able to stay at home.” Nita recalls Morrie being a doting father, spending time with the children and giving them back rides. Some of Nita’s favourite times in her life was when her, Morrie and the children would ride horses together on the weekend. “We are all very close, it is good having a big family,” Nita said. “If something happens with one of us, the rest are all not far away, and are always there to help and support.” What a legacy you have created, Nita. You have everything that really matters in life; a big, close family, love and support. You are kind, honest and straightforward, and have passed those qualities on to your family as well. It was a true delight to talk to you and hear your story.
