Mt. St. Mary’s,
Greenmeadows.
Sun. 19th Sept. ’71.

Dear Mum & Dad,

Rod, Nola & family have just left after a very pleasant afternoon. They are all well. Leila begins her holiday on Monday. Rod told me that Aunty Ethel is not well.

Michael Richardson (friends of the Fosters) left on Wednesday. It was quite a surprise, because he seemed to have settled in so much.

I received a parcel from Tony & Mehegan & it was much appreciated. I will wait a few days before I write to them because Tony said he was going to Suva with Michael Shanahan.

Last Thursday, a Benedictine priest who works in Rome, came & spoke to us. He was Fr. le Clerq – one of the brains behind the changes in the Liturgy. He had been staying with the Cistercians at Kopua.

Maka Tatafu, who’s in my band but at present in Tonga; well, his brother came up yesterday & stayed the night. He is a Methodist, & is the split image of Maka. In fact he’s so much like Maka, that when I first saw him I didn’t know whether to recognize him & say “Hello Maka” & thus make a fool of myself, or ignore him at the risk of him being Maka.

Anyway, when I did meet him eventually I got the fright of my life. Because I forgot all about the Tongan custom. So when I was introduced as “a member of Maka’s band” he of course kissed me on the cheek!! Imagine trying to carry on a normal conversation calmly after such a sudden fright!! Ten minutes later John Owens came to warn me, “If you meet that Tongan fellow & are introduced as a member of Maka’s band, don’t forget that he’ll kiss you on the cheek!” I said, “It’s already too late, he has.”

Well that’s about all the news. I didn’t have a chance to watch the film of T.V. on Saturday – “A Night to Remember” – about the Titanic.

Love from
Bruce




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