For a very long time I've had the intention to do something to get in touch with the people I knew, the friends I'd had, when I was at school. Of all four schools I attended in my life, Daramalan was the best ... and I was only there for a mere eighteen months and it's not simply because it was the last of them.
I was like a fish out of water when I arrived in Canberra, halfway through 1968, a boy whose knowledge and narrow experience of the world had been limited to the teachings of the traditional, conservative Catholic education system fashioned by the image of Archbishop Daniel Mannix. Coming to Canberra - and attending Daramalan - was like a breath of fresh air. I learned more in the eighteen months attending Daramalan than I had in the 9½ years previously. But I owe my education not just to the school teachers ... my greater debt is to my fellow classmates who taught me more about life than I'd ever known.
In the 40 years that I've lived here I've come to realise what a tiny town Canberra is. I frequently run into people I've known for years in everyday situations: at the supermarket, restaurant, service station, lawyer's office, everywhere and anywhere. And when you see someone whose face you recognise (and one's brain is pressed into overdrive as you quickly try to remember their name or from where you knew them) and you smile and say "G’day", you promise to give them a phone call or write them an e-mail ... but you never do.
It's taken me a lifetime to realise what Daramalan meant and it's taken me as long to say thank you to each and every one who's made me better for having known them. This is what has driven me to build this website.
I hope the few people reading these words will accept my appreciation for what they did and that they will join me to build and grow this community of rather special people.
I would like this forum to become an online meeting place where we can exchange our stories of life then and now. It's not a difficult thing to do; it just takes a small effort on your part to join.