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Part taken from chapter 2 'Where it all began'
Born on November 16, 1948, in the depression of post-war Europe, Alby arrived into a world riddled with gloom and despondency. In Holland, friends and neighbours were fleeing their homelands for destinations all over the globe in an attempt to make a better life for themselves. It must have been hard for a small child to understand why people he knew kept disappearing from his life, and harder still to imagine that life could be any different from the limited breadth of his knowledge. From those lowly beginnings Alby was already looking for positives everywhere and developing two qualities that were to remain with him for the rest of his life. The first was to make the most out of whatever he had, and the second was to treasure the close bond he enjoyed with his family. With little to their name, Alby and his elder brother and sister would often find pleasure in skating on the frozen canals. It was energetic, it was healthy, and it was free.
Zwier Albertus Mangels seemed a big name for the youngest member of a family who had so little that they lived in the cellar of a farmer's property. So cramped were their living quarters that Alby's bedroom was literally a bed in a closet shared with his brother, Tony. It is, perhaps, little wonder that he grew up with an insatiable desire to explore wide-open spaces and live in a vast expanse with no boundaries. But before that day could come, many childhood and adolescent dramas awaited the young Alby Mangels.
In 1955, with the children aged ten, nine, and eight, Alby's parents, Adriana (Sjaan) and Johannes (Jos), decided to follow the lead of Alby's aunt and emigrated to Australia. Jos was struggling to make ends meet as a leather tanner in post-war Halland, although the struggle never seemed to dampen his spirit. Alby recalls his father as a peaceful man who was always whistling; never once can Alby remember him getting angry. It was a courageous decision not only because they were moving countries, continents, and hemispheres, but because Jos had no job to go to and none of them spoke a word of English. The packing of goods and saying of goodbyes would be a scene replayed many times in Alby's life. He has quite lost count of how often he has packed his bags and said goodbye since that fateful boarding of the Southern Cross, bound for a world full of hope and promise...
...unofficially Alby had been i the workforce since he was eleven years old, working in stables. He loved horses; and he hated school. Every Wednesday when the races came around he would ask his mother if he could go; every Wednesday she would refuse him. Never one to take no for an wnswer, Alby started writing his own notes to say that he was sick and needed the day off school. It didn't take long for his teacher to get wise to hime. In fact, one day she turned to the class and said, 'We have a short week next week: Labor Day on Monday and the races on Wednesday.' The whole class turned to look at Alby!
Part taken from chapter 2 'Honour thy mother'
...a sinking feeling hit the pit of his stomach as his step-father greeted him, unshaven, dishevelled and drawn. Alby tried to brush past him, attempting to ignore his very existence, but Bert pushed his entire body derectly into the path of the birthday boy.
'What are you so happy about?' he growled.
'Well, it's my birthday,' Alby chirped.
'You wouldn't be so happy if you knew your mother was dying, would you?'
For a frozen moment in time Alby's heart stopped. It was as though the world had physically opened and swallowed him whole. It couldn't be true. It was just another one of this wicked man's twisted mind games.
'What are you talking about?' Alby finally stammered.
He felt faint, dizzy, and sick. He was hot, cold, shaky, and wavering between shock and denial. Not wanting to believe it was true, he turned tail and headed frantically towards the family doctor, all the time will the grim reaper to take anyone from him but his mother. Time blurred. Traffic disappeared in a hazy mist of tears. His mind was drowning in dread.
...Screeching to a halt he found the local doctor just as her was lucking up the surgery for the day. For a moment Alby just stood there, until the doctor seemed to sense his presence. The gentle-mannered man of medicine turned around to see the terrible pain in Alby's eyes. 'Is it true?' Alby almost whispered. The doctor was pensively silent for a heartbeat before quietly responding with, 'You'd better come inside.' Alby didn't need to hear the words of confirmation; the doctor's manner said it all. 'How long?' he heard himself asking. 'Not long. But please, don't tell her yet. Only your step-father knows...and he shouldn't have told you.'...
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