On a chilly winter’s day, Esme Rash is flipping through a photo album.<\/p>\n
“That was my first bike, which I used to ride the 5 miles [8 kilometres] to my high school in Yarram,” Ms Rash said.<\/p>\n
Sitting beside her is Wendy Pope, her long-time friend.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wendy Pope and Esme Rash have many childhood memories in common. (ABC Rural: Faith Tabalujan)<\/p>\n
“Oh how wonderful, I used to have one just like that,” Ms Pope said.<\/p>\n
At the ripe ages of 93 and 91, respectively, these two women have seen it all.<\/p>\n
They have lived through a world war.<\/p>\n
They have toiled as farmers, raising dairy cows, beef cattle and sheep.<\/p>\n
They have met, married and mourned for the loves of their lives.<\/p>\n
Through all of it, across more 40 years, they have remained firm friends.<\/p>\n
Born and raised<\/p>\n
Ms Pope was born in Yarram in 1934, and spent several years at a girls’ school in the nearby town of Sale.<\/p>\n
After meeting her late husband, Ms Pope lived and worked on a Woodside farm for more than 20 years, moving back to Yarram in 1977.<\/p>\n
Ms Pope said she loved life on the land.<\/p>\n
“I missed the broad acres and the daily responsibilities of raising sheep and Hereford cattle,” she said.<\/p>\n
“But once we moved into Yarram we settled in quite well.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wendy Pope and Esme Rash reminisce while looking at old photographs. (ABC Rural: Faith Tabalujan)<\/p>\n
Ms Rash was born in Sale, but lived with her family on the outskirts of Yarram until she was 12 years old.<\/p>\n
She remembers leaving her rural home in the middle of World War II.<\/p>\n
“Unfortunately my mother’s youngest brother had just been killed in New Guinea, which devastated my grandparents in Melbourne, so we moved there in 1943 to be with them,” she said.<\/p>\n
“But I eventually returned to Yarram with my late husband in 1978.”<\/p>\n
Country upbringing<\/p>\n
A lot of Ms Pope’s memories also centre on the war.<\/p>\n
“It was 1945 and I remember sitting with my younger sisters on our front step to watch all the festivities announcing the end of the war,” she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Pope said she loved her country childhood.<\/p>\n
“We had everything we needed \u2014 shops, banks \u2014 and a very close community built around the local sheep and wool industries,” she said.<\/p>\n
“I also remember riding my bike to the local butter factory, where they’d open a little side door and serve you fresh butter and cream.<\/p>\n
“That was quite thrilling for a youngster like me!”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Yarram’s old butter factory is a much-loved landmark. (ABC Rural: Faith Tabalujan)<\/p>\n
These two women have been friends for more than four decades, but Ms Pope said their bond goes even further back.<\/p>\n
“In those days everyone knew everyone, so I knew Esme’s family from our holiday trips to places like Manns Beach,” she said.<\/p>\n
“But I’ve grown to know Esme much more since we moved to Yarram, and she’s a lovely lady whose company I greatly enjoy.”Lifetimes of service<\/p>\n
They may be in their 90s, but Ms Rash and Ms Pope like to keep busy.<\/p>\n
Ms Pope spends much of her time volunteering with various community groups.<\/p>\n
“Over the years I’ve served at local Red Cross branches, the Anglican church, and Rotary, among others,” she said.<\/p>\n
“You meet so many fascinating people and, because I didn’t have a family of my own, I had more opportunity to support these different organisations.”<\/p>\n
Family history is Ms Rash’s passion.<\/p>\n
“I’m secretary of our local genealogy group, so I often get calls from the most unexpected people,” she said.<\/p>\n
“In fact, I recently met the uncle of Tom Hawkins, one of my favourite footballers!”<\/p>\n
Esme Rash loves family history. (ABC Rural: Faith Tabalujan)<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, both women became recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia.<\/p>\n
On the King’s Birthday weekend, they were honoured with an OAM, alongside 828 other Australians.<\/p>\n
Ms Pope said she was both surprised and grateful to be recognised for a “distinguished service to the community of Yarram”.<\/p>\n
“I’ve just done whatever needed to be done, but it’s lovely to be recognised,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Although now Esme and I have to remember to add three more letters to the end of our names!”<\/p>\n
The ‘spice of life’<\/p>\n
So what keeps these two women going after more than nine decades on Earth?<\/p>\n
For Ms Pope, it is the opportunity to serve others.<\/p>\n
“That’s the spice of life, waking up each morning and thinking,’Who can I help?'”<\/p>\n
“And if you’ve got something to look forward to, every day is a joy.”<\/p>\n
Ms Rash said being part of a close-knit community made all the difference.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wendy Pope and Esme Rash look forward to more years of friendship. (ABC Rural: Faith Tabalujan)<\/p>\n
“Here in Yarram, there’s always somebody to say hello to when you walk down the street,” she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Rash said Yarram was, and always would be, home.<\/p>\n
“The local nursing home is right next to the hospital, so I’ll go there when my time comes,” she said.<\/p>\n
“And I already have my plot in the cemetery, so I’m just about covered.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a chilly winter’s day, Esme Rash is flipping through a photo album. “That was my first bike,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[7736,64,63,5214,9372,134,9371,9368,9370,1793,9367,9369],"class_list":["post-7432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ageing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-community","tag-community-service","tag-entertainment","tag-friends","tag-friendship","tag-nonagenarian","tag-retirement","tag-rural-women","tag-yarram"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}