On the Grapevine: The life of Veronica Brooks, part two

The couple had moved into the family property ‘Glenvale’ owned by Kevin’s parents, Robert and Alice at Mount Gwynne for a month, before buying an old house situated nearby which had been built by Veronica’s father.

They had it moved on to the property, where it underwent a serious renovation and extension from a house of 26 sq m into a family home of 35 sq m.

With the arrival of her large brood, Veronica had plenty to keep her busy.

Life could at times be somewhat frantic, and yet, she took it all in her stride, her early life having shaped her to accept life as it came.

Veronica’s mother-in-law Alice taught her how to cook, and she was treated with love and kindness by all members of the family.

They understood she had not experienced a family upbringing and had to learn to do everything for herself from a very young age.

As the years passed by, the family grew to 10. The home needed to run like a well-oiled machine, with Veronica as commander-in-chief.

Everyone helped out: the older ones assisted the little ones, and each had specific jobs to do.

By 1977, Veronica and Kevin had produced six sons and four daughters. There was plenty to keep the couple busy, and life could at times be manic.

For Veronica, this also included breastfeeding each of her children for at least six months, but she took it all in her stride.

Veronica recalled with a gentle laugh that when she was 14 she would often say that she would like to have 10 children when she grew up.

“But I never really thought I would,” she said.

Life was busy for everyone on the 1000-acre farming property, where the family milked 80-100 cows, ran a large herd of sheep and grew crops of oats, wheat and lucerne.

It took organisation to run the property successfully and as the children grew older, they helped out wherever needed.

They had chores to do inside the home, preparing meals, making cakes, school lunches, cleaning and washing amid lots of fun and laughter.

Veronica found she could do with some help in the home. A neighbour who employed a housekeeper agreed to allow her employee to visit the Brooks home twice a week for cleaning and ironing.

When the family went on holidays to the beach over the summer, the same cleaner would clean the entire house — curtains and all.

Veronica was required to provide a hot meal each day for the shearing contractors when they stayed on the property during the September school holidays, seriously adding to her list of things to do.

As one could imagine, with such a large family, there were often incidents that needed to be dealt with.

One particular day, Greg was in the kitchen cooking and noticed a brown snake move when he opened a cupboard under the sink.

He yelled to his dad to come quickly. Kevin arrived with a rifle in hand and fired several shots at the snake.

Not only did he kill the snake, but he also made a mess of the cupboard, with several large holes in the woodwork requiring filling.

Veronica learnt to drive not long after Brendan was born, and she ultimately became the family taxi, driving all over the region.

Living out of town had its benefits, but it also presented some difficulties when you had 10 children with different interests.

One would have to ask whether Veronica ever had time to herself, with such a busy schedule. Well yes she did, particularly each Thursday.

It was shopping day. Once the children had been picked up by the school bus that morning, she had the entire day to herself and did not need to return much before 5pm when the bus delivered her brood home again.

The kids loved mum being out for the day as she always brought home a treat for each of them, generally a delicious store-bought cake from one of the top bakeries.

The children attended Barooga Public School and later some of them went to Cobram Secondary College, while others travelled to St Mary of the Angels in Nathalia.

While the four girls went on to tertiary and further education, the boys took on a variety of careers associated with their background in farming, including dairy farming, viticulture, construction and the water industry.

Hugely sport-minded, five of the Brooks boys played football with Barooga at one time, while ‘big’ brother Brendan elected to play with Cobram.

The boys also played cricket at Barooga and Veronica became heavily involved with both the football club during the mid-1980s and the cricket club after 2000. It reached the point that she was presented with a life membership of both clubs for her amazing efforts over a long period.

Veronica loved good clothes and each time one of her children was to be married she wanted to look her best, so the mum of 10 would head to Melbourne to buy fabric for a stunning outfit.

Blue was her favourite colour in its various shades. She would always go to The Little Shop on the Hill in Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn, with her selected fabric to be made into the latest style.

Veronica was always greeted by staff with a smile and the words, “Mrs Brooks, you have another wedding!”

One could imagine when one of the Brooks children had a birthday that, with such a large family, it was like a big party every time, with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins turning out.

Whoever was having the birthday was also permitted to invite a special friend who would stay the night afterwards.

On one occasion, when firstborn son Brendan was to celebrate his 21st birthday, his siblings, in party mode, decided to drive the kids down to the canal in the ute to water ski.

Situated along the edge of the property, the siblings would drive the ute while holding the rope attached to the skier, getting as close as they safely could to the edge.

However, this time there was a hiccup and all on board the ute ended up in the canal. Dad was asleep at the time, resting up before Brendan’s big night.

So two of the boys raced to the shed, got the tractor out and drove it to the canal where they managed to pull out the ute and the kids too.

Everyone went back to the house, dried off and got dressed as if nothing had happened.

In early 2000, Veronica expressed interest in volunteering at the Barooga Public School and St Joseph’s Primary to help young children with the reading program.

Hundreds of youngsters gained benefit from the time and expertise she offered them until COVID-19’s impact on social interaction became the impetus for her to retire.

“It’s been a great life, and I am so very proud of my family, with 18 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren,” said Veronica, an amazing 88-year-old who has beaten cancer twice and turns 89 on October 29.

Footnote:

Sadly, Kevin Brooks passed away on May 26, 2003. His wife, his family, his farm and football were the great loves of his life.

The couple’s beloved daughter Veronica, an acclaimed journalist who worked overseas, passed away on December 31, 2008.