‘[David] tells me that I’m his soulmate,then,after 15 minutes,he says,“I’ve got to go now and practise.” ’
Louise Helfgott
We talk on the phone regularly,usually after he’s had a swim and burnt off some energy. He often asks me to recite a poem I wrote calledScreen Rushes[about the making ofShine]. It’s a poem about hope,about his climbing out of the abyss and finding music again. He tells me that I’m his soulmate,then,after 15 minutes,he says,“I’ve got to go now and practise.”
I live in Mandurah,near Perth. One day,when David and Gillian were in town,my husband’s family organised a picnic on Penguin Island[off the coast of Rockingham];we laid out our food and went for a walk. As we return,I see a man,dripping wet,drinking our Fanta. I’m thinking,“Is that …David?” We get to the blanket and I say,“David,what are you doing here?” He’d just swum a kilometre to reach the island. He didn’t know it was our picnic;it was a complete coincidence. He drank the whole two litres of Fanta.
That’s David. There’s something so childlike about him and I feel such love and tenderness for him;it’s so special being his sister.
David: I remember the night Louise was born,a lovely little girl,the cutest bubby I ever saw. Family is complicated,so complicated. Poor old Dad,woeful father. It’s history;it’s history. Get over it;get over it. How to get over it? A father should love;a father should love. Louise always had a soft spot for Mum,though – took her into her arms. I loved her for the little cheer when she was kind to Mum.
Dad and I tried to kill each other with chairs. Louise remembers us rushing with chairs. Sad,wasn’t it? How could such a thing happen? You wouldn’t think so in a family. It was awful. Louise and I just talked and talked and talked. I love Louise. I want sister love,sister love in place of a father. Why do I hang on to the father? He’s been dead for donkey’s years. Get over it. Well,I’ve got Louise’s love,anyway.
‘Dad and I tried to kill each other with chairs. Louise remembers us rushing with chairs. Sad,wasn’t it?’
David Helfgott
Louise loves Chopin’sRaindrops Prelude. I remember the harmonic progression in the middle of it. She wrote a wonderful poem calledScreen Rushes for me;I think it’s her masterpiece. I like the assonance,the duration;it’s musical;she understands. She wrote a play,too[Potchnagoola,in 2018,about the friendship between David and Australian author Katharine Susannah Prichard]. I know Louise is a genius. She was writing all about Poland,beloved Europe,my beloved Europe. She was being brave,getting into the great big world out there. You’ve got to be a bit social,you’ve got to play along. You can’t just be at the piano all day. You need friends and family.
We had the same father and mother;we lived in the same house. Blood is thicker than water. Until Dad threw me out. I think we all suffered under Dad. It’s all dealing with emotions,emotions. The pain,the pain.
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I’m a big brother,big brother;do I feel like a big brother? I’m not sure. What can you do? What can you do? Louise remembers me as being different. I wasn’t always like that,was I? I was gentle and loving,like a fragile butterfly.
Life’s risky. Every time you go in a car,walk down the street,you take a risk. You have to live in the moment,be in the now. You can’t change the past and the future isn’t here yet.
When you look up at the night sky and the stars,how did this all come about? It’s a big question,isn’t it? I think that’s why it’s important to have special people in your life. Because we don’t know what is to be. All we’ve got is now. That’s where we all live. I love to see Louise. I love Louise.
twoofus@goodweekend.com.au