If you already follow my Duckman page on Facebook, you may know by now that my family and I, among many others, recently lost someone very special. In my initial post, I shared a photo of the NZ flag at half-mast and said little about it except that if I didn't post much over the past week, this was why and that I would most likely talk more about it in a blog. So, here I am now to share some memories and stories in remembrance of who I would consider to be one of the loveliest people anyone would've had the opportunity to have known - Margaret Clark.
When I first met Margaret, I was only a toddler. From what I remember being told, my mother started going to church when I was around age 1 (this would be around 1982). We first attended at Linwood Baptist Church in Christchurch. It was here where we would eventually meet the Clark family (Linwood Baptist would also happen to be where another family, the Johnsons - who lived down the street from us - were also regulars). I have no memory of how we met the Clarks exactly as I was only little, but I'm told by my mother that it was one of those "Turn around and say hello to someone you haven't met" moments. My mum and Margaret hit it off and became good friends pretty quickly, apparently. It's been said that they had to be told to take a seat as they were still talking to each other after the greeting section ended. From this moment, the bonding of the Clark and Rowbotham families would be sealed.
The Clark family at the time was made up of Margaret with her husband, Malcolm, their sons Darryn and Shane, and their daughter Lavina. I was only a few years younger than Lavina, so I became a good friend of hers first. Kids tend to hang around their age range often. As I would get older and attend high school, I would also find myself becoming a good friend of Darryn as we had a lot of similar tastes in music and on-screen entertainment. My second oldest sister, Carma was also a good friend of his, but it would become harder for her to keep in touch after she moved out of town shortly after leaving school.
Now that I have added some context to my stories, we now return to more about Margaret herself.
As well as being very friendly and welcoming, Margaret was often found in the kitchen (when she wasn't in the garden). She had become very fond of cooking and baking. By the time my family were in the picture, she had gained a reputation for baking what I would consider the best cheese scones in town. Trust me, they were awesome. I haven't had a scone from anywhere else that has ever come close to matching.
While on the subject, it got me thinking about this over the last few days. It seems that I've associated quite a few food items with the Clarks. Particularly Margaret's side of the family. For her it's the cheese scones, with her mother (Agnes) it was Griffin's MallowPuffs, and her father (Harry) it's toast (if you're a family member or a close friend, you will understand the meaning behind that reference). Speaking of food memories with the Clarks, the name Janis Juice comes to mind as well (something you'd have to ask them about to get the full picture).
Some of my early memories involve going to the Clarks' house in Linwood after school, spending a few Christmas events together at their house or dining out. While growing up, it's as if they were my second family.
As time would progress and times change, relocation would eventually take place. After living in Linwood for many years, the Clarks would eventually move to the Parklands area. We may have all moved to a longer distance by this time, but that didn't stop visits taking place. I was an adult by this time, and I would often take the bus to their home near Bottle Lake Forest. A nice quiet area. While visiting, Darryn and I would often listen to music or watch DVD's and have pizza or whatever was on offer that day. Something that we would start doing semi-regularly while they were still living in Linwood. Fast forward a few years, I meet my then future wife, Aliesha, and have the honour of introducing her to the beloved Clark family I'd told her about prior to their meeting. Aliesha always felt welcome in the Clark residence whenever we'd go to see them. It would eventually become a tradition to meet up each year with them and my mother for our Christmas gift exchange. Not necessarily on the day (most likely due to their extended family getting bigger by this time), but usually meeting up somewhere public either before or afterwards over a meal. The visits would become a little more difficult as time went on as the Clarks would eventually move out of Christchurch to one of the neighbouring towns (I won't say where for privacy reasons). We would still visit from time to time, usually with my mother, but less frequent as it can be quite expensive to go that far on the bus. We'd still meet up for birthday or Christmas events though.
There's not much I can really say about the reason behind what happened with Margaret and her health later in life. Mainly because that's a private matter, but also that I'm not 100% clued up on the details anyway. Either way, it's not my place to say the medical history of the recently departed. What I can say though is that for many years, Margaret had been a fighter, and a strong one at that. That's a key word for her - fighter. Whenever something came up and she was under the weather or worse, she would always bounce back at the other end. For many years, it seemed that she was almost invincible.
But as you would expect for everybody, this wouldn't happen forever. Over the past year, she had been in hospital a few times. One of those times, she had an unexpected and very pleasant visitor. One of New Zealand's own national treasures of the entertainment scene, Christchurch's own Jason Gunn. As it would appear, he was visiting someone in the hospital. It was during this time, he decided to pay a visit to some of the other patients in the ward. Margaret being one of them. Because of this and that he was popping in from time to time for his own personal reasons, he would check in on more than one occasion.
Margaret would eventually leave hospital after this time, but we wouldn't know until later in the year that this would be the final battle she would overcome. In early November, she returned to the hospital and this time it wasn't as promising. On November 7th - a week before her 77th birthday - she passed away. It was a sad day for all of us.
It was decided to have her funeral on her birthday (14th) not just to say goodbye, but to celebrate her life in the process. Many people showed up. Even Jase attended, which I find very touching considering his high profile and (most likely) busy work schedule (if you happen to be reading this, Jase, we're thankful you could be there with us - very much appreciated).
As sad a day as it was, there were moments of joy and laughter as we heard stories from Margaret's past. There were even some things I learned about her that I hadn't known before. For example, I didn't know she once worked for Hay's Ltd. The department store that would eventually become Farmers, and once had the awesome rooftop playground in central Christchurch.
As I draw to the end of this blog entry, I will close with some thoughts. To me, Margaret was a loving, welcoming and very pleasant person to be around. I never left the Clark residence unhappy...or with an empty stomach. She is sorely missed, but in the end we can't help but smile at what her legacy left behind. Definitely a sign that whatever she was doing, she did it right and did it well.
Rest in peace, Margaret. We will see you again soon. Keep the cheese scones warm for us. 💖
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