I was named Pamela Joy. At school over half the class had the same name. I wanted to become a sewing teacher but in those days most girls left school to find a job before marrying and I was no different. I have always made my own clothes and those of our children, then I took up patchwork and machine embroidery 20 years ago…

I met Erwin at church where I attended a physical culture group. I was on stage when the curtains were opened and he saw me from the public address box. He was impressed so made enquiries about where I would be going the following Saturday night. A group of us gathered at the railway station to go into Baptist Youth Fellowship in the City. I almost didn’t go because my hair turned out a mess! When he saw me stomping down the ramp at the station he thought he saw a “vision” coming.

We went out together for 5 years until we married just after my 21st birthday by which time we had saved enough for a deposit on a house in Newcastle. We have now been married almost 54 years, during which time we had two children and lived in NSW, USA, Victoria and Western Australia.