Richmond, is a place.
Richmond, is a footy team.
Richmond, is family.
Richmond, is home.
Richmond, Tiger town. Is in my blood, it is cursing through my veins, moving in and out of my heart.
Bridge Rd, Swan St, Punt Rd, Church St.
Ancestral
Richmond, ancestral ground. How many others before me? A place where my grandmother was born, where my great grandparents lived. Maternal and paternal. Both sides. Genetics. Influence of place. Richmond. Cell resonance. Known by my physical body. Where there is an innate knowing, yes this is where I arrived ‘here’. Richmond, Bethesda Hospital. Birth place. Richmond, home. Comfortable. Safe. Refuge.
Richmond, brings a lump to my throat, tear to my eye. Richmond is home. Home of my ancestors, my birth place, my safe place, its where we gathered, its where I was loved.
Richmond, history. Before my time, after I am gone. Continuation. Tradition. Passing the baton. Connection. Shared experience. Family. Walking up Bridge Rd, MCG car park, walking into the ‘G’.
Richmond, loved, love.
Richmond Football Club
Richmond, football, passion, connection, belonging, my religion, joy, anxiety, family time, yelling, screaming, cathartic, my weekly purge, time away from her, let me out of the home, give me some breath space. Fresh air. Stadium. Family time. Hot chips. Tea at half time.
Going to the footy, my escape, my refuge from the rules, from the masks, from the parameters, free from the shackles. The ‘G’ a place where I could let it all out and no one told me off. A time each week, where I could yell, scream, jump up and down, escape from a life of fear.
Richmond Football Club, torture, passion, pain, joy. 80%. Leave at the 20 minute mark of the last quarter if we are losing. Pulling out. Not following through, dynamic established unconsciously. Leave before you witness the loss. Don’t want to lose, don’t want to see other in pain. Not following through. Pulling out if things are not going well. It’s a strong pull. It’s so deeply imbedded within my cells, my genetic makeup. When they lose, I lose. When they win, I win. My cells respond. Reflected glory.
Richmond. Legacy. Blood. Connection.
Influenced my view of life. Financial, cultural, familial and social.
Richmond, the one constant through the vein of my life.
