Our Dream became our Nightmare

My Parents, Norm and Dorothy (or Dotty as she was affectionately known) Cubbon, grew up and met in Newcastle.
They married at 17 yrs of age and by 28 yrs of age they had 5 children, David (11), Lynda (9),Ken (8),Darren (6) and my youngest brother Geoff(5).  In October 1968 our baby sister Maree, arrived. The whole family was over the moon, especially me, as I had grown up with four boys and I finally had a sister. We absolutely adored her, spoilt her and watched her grow into a beautiful young lady. She was always extremely dedicated to her family and friends. If anyone had a problem she had a solution or at least tried to have one. Her warmth and compassion would follow her everywhere. If there were a sad face she'd make it smile, a tear she'd wipe it, and especially share in our happiness and joys. Birthdays and Christmas' weren't complete until Maree arrived. My 4 children just idolised her, as she did them. Christmas day was so special when she arrived dressed in her Santa trimmings, carrying a huge basket full of goodies and her deep voice of 'HO! HO! HO!' as she walked through the door. She did everything in style and with so much detail. She just loved people and lived her life to the fullest. She had so many friends whom all truly loved and respected her.
Mum had spent all her married life at home raising 6 children. She was a rather quiet lady and didn't venture out much, except for Saturday nights at Housie and Mondays Tenpin Bowling with her eldest of four sisters, Mavis. They would all get together on each of their birthdays and Christmas, to celebrate. Other than that, Mum was quite content with her duties around the home and was the perfect mother and granny to her 6 children and 6 grandchildren. She was very placid and never one to complain taking everything in her stride.
After leaving school at 16 Maree had worked a few jobs, then at 24, decided to give it a go at starting her own business. Along with Mum, a lot of hard work planning and organising, and thinking of a name, "Dreams Come True Bridal Boutique" became a reality. They planted a seed ready to watch it grow.
Maree was the businesswoman and along with her incredible knack dealing with customers, she also enjoyed making a lot of her own accessories. We were all surprised at Mum's hidden talents in making her own headpieces, veils, flowergirl dresses and Bridal Gowns. They would do almost anything, to make a brides 'dream come true', because that's what they set out to do. Not only did they work in the shop, they took great pleasure in attending some of the Weddings they'd helped organise. Mum worked tirelessly at home as well, sewing and hand beading dresses and accessories. They were to become two of the most loved and respected ladies in the business, not only with their customers, but all over Newcastle and throughout the Bridal Industry.
There was a lot of stress and heartache along with the pleasures. Two years after opening, they were forced to relocate due to changes at the Hilltop Plaza, Charlestown where they were located. After many hours of hard work with help from family and friends, painting huge walls, building fixtures and totally redecorating, they finally reopened. Their dedication to their customers didn't change though, they were even more determined to making another brides 'Dreams Come True'. They also still had time for family and friends, always there, no matter what the reason. They were inspiration and great friends to so many.
Sunday, 2nd March 1997, Mum and Dad were to celebrate their 40th Wedding Anniversary. Maree was always one to put on an elaborate party so only 4 weeks prior, Maree and I started planning for the big event. Mum never liked having parties so we wanted it to be a surprise. As the weeks went on, she become rather upset thinking none of the family was doing anything about their big day, so we had to tell her. It was so unlike her to be getting so excited about a party, especially one in her honour. We didn't have a lot of money but that wasn't going to stop us. Maree was so insistent that everything be perfect. The stress of it all started catching up on both of us. I couldn't understand why she wanted everything to be so meticulous. This party had to be perfect in every detail and be extremely special.
The big day arrived with so much to do. I went shopping at 7am, then back home to start all the cooking and food preparation. Mum and Maree worked as usual till 2pm, then it was a mad rush for Maree to finish organising all she had to do. We insisted Mum relax and let us take care of everything. We converted my garage into a makeshift restaurant with all the trimmings for 40 people.
The big night, Saturday March 1 was finally here, after a lot of hard work, Maree's wishes had come true, and everything was perfect. Mum and Dad arrived and the look on their faces said it all. I had never seen Mum so happy, the smile never left her face all night. She was thrilled to have her 4 sisters, 6 children, 6 grandchildren and friends joining them to celebrate. Maree invited 2 of her many best girlfriends, Tracey and Suzie, as it was a joke that they were her 'two wives' because they all lived together and were so close. Everything went off as planned and everybody was just so happy and relaxed. The night was absolutely perfect. Sunday was the big clean-up and Monday was business as usual.
Wednesday 5th March was a normal day. Mum worked in the shop then went home to serve a baked dinner for the family, Wednesday was Maree's day off, she spent the day catching up with family and friends as usual. At 6.30 p.m. they both headed off on a 50 km trip to the Central Coast to do a dress fitting for a bride-to-be, who couldn't make it to the shop. It was raining, but they were dedicated to their customers and nothing was going to stop them, especially a little bit of water. They got to Swansea, past the final roundabout heading onto the four lane Pacific Highway. The little bit of rain they started off in turned into quite a lot and two kilometres further down, the road was a virtual river. Then tragedy struck. Maree's car aquaplaned across to the other side of the road into the path of another car towing a boat. It hit head-on into the passenger's side of Maree's car. Mum was killed instantly, Maree was unconscious with serious injuries but died a few hours later in John Hunter Hospital. By 11pm on the 5th March their entire family and friends were in total shock and grieving for two beautiful women that only 4 days before had all celebrated with. It was the worst day of our lives.
Mum was just 57, with a new lease on life, just starting to come out of her shell after spending so many years at home looking after her family. Maree was only 28, with so much to look forward to, her own business, a lovely new car, so many friends, and had just rekindled her relationship with her boyfriend, Grahame. I have no doubt, that they would have eventually married and had a family of their own.
Within 24 hours a whole community was in total shock and disbelief that two most incredibly beautiful women who touched the hearts of so many, were so tragically taken. How could this be? They were the backbone of our family, and treasured friends of so many.
The week leading up to funeral was one of the hardest things we'd ever had to go through. Not only did we have to bury our most treasured ladies, we also had to cope with Maree's dream, the Bridal Boutique. None of the family had the talent, experience, or know how to run the shop, especially under such tragic circumstances. That's when their devoted friends and work colleagues stepped in. The help and support was incredible. People from other businesses in the Plaza and other Bridal Boutiques in Newcastle, just took over, their devotion, loyalty and friendship to Dorothy and Maree was incredible.
Monday the 10^th of March was to be the second worst day of our lives, 'The Funeral'. Over 400 people were there to show their respect and loyalty to two most treasured and wonderful ladies. Their caskets were absolutely beautiful, blanketed with 40 dozen yellow roses for Mum and 40 dozen red roses for Maree, a dozen roses each, for each year Mum and Dad were married,
The months to follow were extremely hard but we managed to cope. We had to believe they would always be with us. We erected two crosses where the accident occurred so no one would ever forget them.
September, 1997 "The Newcastle Knights" were to play in their very first Rugby League Grand Final. Mum was one of their most dedicated fans, she had followed them from day one. We knew she would have been over the moon, so my brother Geoffrey and I got together to make it special for her. It was hard, just thinking how sad it was that Mum wasn't here for a day she'd always dreamt of, even though she couldn't be here in person we had to believe she'd be here in spirit. At 8.30 am on the Sunday morning we took our home-made banner, "GO KNIGHTS GO, WE'LL BE WATCHING, DOTTY and MAREE", balloons and streamers, down to the crosses. We had taken photos of the crosses decorated in Red and Blue then went for a drive. On the way back I asked Geoffrey if we could take photos from the other side of the road, he almost drove past until I yelled for him to stop!. I took the photos, when I was strolling back to the car, the shock and disbelief of what I'd found was incredible, about 30 centimetres from the edge of the road, buried in the dirt, were 2 of Maree's Gold Bracelets. The filigree heart of one was just on the surface. We carefully dug them out with a screwdriver, they were badly tarnished, but still intact. The whereabouts of these bracelets had been a mystery, sadly we had thought someone must have stolen them from the accident scene 6 months before. This discovery convinced us that Mum and Maree were still with us, watching over us.
Dad and I watched the Grand Final at home together, we prayed the Knights would win for Mum's sake. When our hopes started looking grim, we placed the bracelets and a photo of Mum and Ree on top of the TV. We watched, waited, and prayed even harder. The excitement then was so incredible, as most people know, the last seconds of the game saw the Knights score a final try to win them the 'Grand Final'. This left no doubt in the minds of all our family that Mum and Maree were definitely with us, and always would be.
They now rest in peace at Sandgate with the most beautiful "Double Heart Headstones" & "Kissing Doves" monument adorned with the most bright and colourful flower arrangements. Life has never been the same and never will be, since losing our special ladies, but our love and memories of them will never change. They will live on in our hearts for all eternity.