Part 13 - "When am I going to see Molly?"

Finally, we don't need to hear "When am I going to see Molly?" coming out of Charlee's mouth. Molly Paton and her family (dad Rod, mom Tracie, Annabelle, and Matilda) were on a teaching exchange to Canada three years ago and Molly was in Charlee's grade 1/2 class at Holy Family in Oakville! Matilda was a grade nine student at Holy Trinity and even babysat for us one night. We knew they lived north of Sydney near the coast but we were having trouble contacting them as we had little accurate information. I googled each of the family members names until "Annabelle Paton" popped up with the Woolgoolga Netball Association. I sent a message to Tracey Schmidt (who works with the Netball Association) and pleaded with her to help me contact the Patons. She was very obliging and eventually contact was made and plans were set to reunite Charlee and Molly! Needless to say they were very happy to see one another.



Adam felt a bit left out until the Paytons invited a few boys over! Boys will be boys and they were soon getting into trouble like they'd known each other for years.


The Patons live in a beautiful part of NSW with a small lake across the street that feeds into the ocean. Rod took Dave for a sea surf to a rock island a short distance out from the beach (and Dave's back never forgave him!)


The next day the Patons organized barbie at a nearby national park next to the Newfoundland State Forest where we saw Brumbies (wild horses) grazing near the road.


Later that night we enjoyed a get-together with some friends of the Patons that involved some tasty Thai food and several games of ping pong.


We were having such a good time we decided to stay an extra night. The Paytons were wonderful hosts and a super family. Rod is now teaching high school after several years at the elementary level. Tracie works at a pre-school in Woolgoolga. Matilda (hiding behind Annabelle) is currently writing her final high school exams and is planning to take next year off to work before heading to uni. Annabelle, the netballer, seems much more mature than most year 8 students I've taught. Molly is the cutest thing - just the way we remember her from a few years back.


This will be a memorable visit for Charlee and Molly. Hopefully, we'll keep in better touch with the Patons and possible convince them to return to Canada for a visit!