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In early June 1966, I decided to hitch a ride to Murray Bridge in order to attend the local Saturday night dance. There I met Robyn and Peter Newman, a pair of blue eyed, blond haired twins my own age from a small town called Palmer, which was about ten miles, the Adelaide side of Mannum. We became great friends, having similar tastes in music and clothes. At that time, Mods and Rockers were the rival sects vying for the attention of teenagers. Mods were considered the classier group, interested in clothes, music and having a good time. Rockers, on the other hand were more traditional leather clad, Rock and Roll fanatics. Robyn, Peter and I were Mods.

Robyn had a blind date with a young Italian girl by the name of Maria Fresiello. This girl immediately enthralled me and when, in about the middle of July at the dance, Robyn said to me that he was going to make her jealous by ignoring her and dancing with other girls, I knew my luck was in. She was going to be mine.

I arrived back at work on the Monday morning and promptly gave a weeks notice to Airlines of South Australia. My dreams of joining the Air Force were replaced by the dream of spending my life with Maria. This girl had so captured my heart that I was willing to swallow my pride and return home. And I did - even seeking employment at David Shearer’s - but not to the extent of conforming to my father’s desire to seek an apprenticeship. I had received good references from both Harris Scarfe and Airlines of South Australia. Armed with those I obtained a position as junior clerk at Shearer’s. As Peter also worked at Shearer’s, it was easier for me to commute between Mannum and Murray Bridge than Adelaide and Murray Bridge - which meant that it was easier to see Maria.

Each weekend, and sometime after work, I would hitch hike to Murray Bridge. On one occasion, Blue Hyland, who by this time was also working at Shearers and was the proud owner of an old bomb of a car, invited me to go to Murray Bridge with him. He was taking his girlfriend to the drive-in and suggested that we could pick Maria up and all go together. We arrived at Maria’s home and I knocked on the front door. At that time I had not met her family so when the door opened and Maria’s younger sister stood there, I became a little scared. Felicity ran from the door and I could hear her shouting, “It’s someone for Maria!”

My apprehension grew to utter panic when Maria’s father appeared.

“Sir, can I speak to Maria please?” I stammered.

“Maria!” he turned and called.

And thankfully Maria appeared. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

It didn’t sound too good and she had her hair wrapped in a towel but I persisted, “Would you like to come to the drive-in with me?”

“Sorry, I can’t - I’ve just washed my hair.”

“Oh… Will I see you on Saturday night?”

“Yes. I’ll be there.”

I was disappointed but I had to know if she was only giving me a line so I took her hand and led her outside. I put my arms around her and kissed her. She responded but quickly pulled away. “My father…”

I really didn’t have a good time at the drive-in that night. Blue was in the car with his girl and I was relegated to the canteen - but I could dream of Saturday night.

Saturday night came and I dressed to the nines and hitched a ride to the Bridge. What a night! Maria’s friend, Pam Rothell, and I won the Twist competition and Maria and I celebrated by obtaining Robyn’s car keys and kissing and cuddling in the back seat. The incongruity of the situation was not lost on me. Here I was, in the car owned by my best friend, kissing the girl who two weeks before was his girlfriend. But Maria was no longer his - she was mine and if I had my way, mine forever.

I arrived back in Mannum at four in the morning after walking most of the twenty-two miles. The next day, Sunday, I set out again from Mannum at eight o’clock. I decided that it was about time to finally meet Maria’s family. After walking to the Murray Bridge turnoff about two miles, Pastor Traeger picked me up. He was on his way to Caloote, which was about half way to Murray Bridge, for the morning service. I wished that it was someone else because several years before, after a particularly traumatic experience, I had stayed with him for a few month when he offered to look after me in order to stop my father putting me into a boys home.

Anyhow, when I arrived in Murray Bridge, I decided that it would be prudent to ring Maria before I showed up. There was only one Fresiello in the phone book and being what I considered an unusual name, I figured that it had to be the one I was looking for. So I rang and asked for Maria. When she spoke, I thought she sounded very young.

“Hello Maria, this is Anthony.”

“Anthony. Who’s Anthony?”

My heart sank. “You know. You remember last night?”

“I think you have the wrong Maria.”

“Your name is Maria Fresiello isn’t it?”

“Yes, but I don’t know you. Goodbye!” and she hung up.

What was I going to do? I wasn’t about to give up but it didn’t seem very promising. I’d give it one more go and then probably kill myself. Maria lived two miles out of town just off the road to Adelaide. Crestfallen, I started walking, my mind in a turmoil. When I finally arrived at Bremer Road, I spotted two small children who turned out to be Rosa and Rocco, Maria’s sister and brother. I asked them if Maria was home. Giggling, Rosa ran to get her while Rocco just stood and stared at me. When she appeared, she had the most wonderful smile on her face. She was obviously surprised but happy to see me. I queried her about the phone call and she burst into laughter.

“Anthony, we don’t even have a phone. You were speaking to my cousin, Maria Teresa. She’s only ten years old.”

Boy, did I feel stupid but relieved.

Mannum was twenty-two miles too far from Maria and I had to do something about it. During breaks in the Saturday night dances, we would frequent the local Coffee Lounge. One Saturday night I approached the owner asking him if he needed a waiter. He agreed to hire me and on the Monday morning, I once again left home. A guesthouse was situated near the Coffee Lounge and I took a room. It was pretty basic - a bed and a cupboard with the shower and toilet down the hall - but it was in Murray Bridge and it was close to Maria.

I worked in the Coffee Lounge from four to midnight during the week, until one in the morning on Saturday nights and had Sunday and Mondays off. I spent all my free time at Maria’s home and came to know all the Fresiello clan - from immediate family to Uncles, Aunts, cousins and more distant relations.

I learned that Maria and her immediate family migrated to Australia in September 196I. Maria’s Dad had arrived several years earlier and had saved enough money to return to Italy to bring his family to Australia. After living in Mypolonga with the Thompson family and working in Ron Noble’s orchards for two or three years, the family purchased several acres of land and built a house in Murray Bridge.

Maria, the oldest of four sisters and a brother, was only thirteen when the family arrived from Italy and had been in Australia for less than five years. She was eighteen - almost two years older than me but I didn’t care. Her father really seemed to like me although he later admitted that he thought that I was too young for daughter. But the family really took me under their wing.

The job at the Coffee Lounge only lasted about a month. The owner left me in charge most of the time and finally disappeared owing quite a lot of money to several others and me. So I had to find another job and somewhere else to live. I didn’t know what I was going to do but I was optimistic that something would work out.

And it did! Mr. Fresiello spoke to several people on my behalf and arranged for me to be able to live in a caravan at one of his neighbour’s properties and to start a job as a builder’s labourer for a local Italian builder and market gardener by the name of Ralph Nisco. Ralph had been in Australia for quite a long time and could speak English very well. We got on really well together and became firm friends. Ralph worked with his brother Tony, also a qualified builder, but before me had never employed a labourer. I was not afraid of a bit of hard work and he appreciated that.

I would start work at six in the morning in Ralph’s glasshouses where he alternately grew tomatoes and cucumbers during the year. At about nine o’clock, when it became too hot in the glasshouses, we would travel to the building site where we would work until about four, and then return to the glasshouses. I would get home from work at about eight in the evening. This routine was followed six days a week with only Sundays for rest. I was paid a good wage - about $70 per week - but boy, did I earn it. More important than that though, I earned the respect of Maria’s parents.

At the end of August 1966, I finally submitted my first tax return and within a couple of weeks received a refund cheque for $I5. I went of Offe’s Jewellers in Murray Bridge and purchased a friendship ring for Maria and had it engraved ‘To Maria - with all my love, Anthony’. That evening, after tea as I was helping with the washing up, I gave it to her. As I put the ring on her finger, I suggested that we would get engaged on Friday, the ninth of December. She seemed very nervous and I assumed that the occasion, coming as a complete surprise, made her so. It was only several years later that I learned that she was going to give the ring back and she certainly didn’t want to become engaged to me. But thankfully, she didn’t wish to hurt my feelings at the time. She figured that she could drop me later. Of course, being completely and overwhelmingly in love, the idea that my feelings weren’t reciprocated, never occurred to me. It’s just as well - I don’t know what I would have done if she had rejected me.

During the succeeding months, Maria and I discussed our future. As time progressed, I guess that Maria saw that I was very serious and, as she later admitted, once she became used to the idea, her feelings for me gradually changed. We began discussing wedding plans and eventually made the decision that we would marry as soon as we could after I turned eighteen. It was also during that time I told her of my dream to join the Air Force. She simply said, “If that’s what you want, I’ll be with you all the way.”

In the middle of November 1966, Maria and I got a lift to Adelaide with a friend in order to purchase the engagement ring. We arrived at about ten o’clock in the morning and after making arrangements as to where we would meet our friend for the return journey, proceeded to window shop in all the jewellers in Rundle Street. We spent several hours looking at rings but we couldn’t seem to find the right one until we arrived at Wendt’s Jewellers. Maria spied the ring she wanted, and being in the right price range, we purchased it.

By the ninth of December, we had saved enough money to have a proper engagement party. We purchased snacks and drinks and with Maria’s parents’ permission, we invited about twenty close friends. The evening was a fantastic success. We hadn’t told Maria’s parents of our wedding plans so when we announced that we were going to get married on the tenth of February 1968; the joy at the party was complete.

I had found my love and my life - but most of all, I had found a home in the hearts of Maria and her family.

©Anthony W. Pahl
15^th December 1993