Count Your Blessings: Colin's Story

by Hazel Barker

Two-year-old Colin and his parents are thrown into a new and harsh environment when they immigrate to Australia.

They travel as ten-quid-migrants and, after roaming round in the bush they settle down in Portland in rural Victoria. Primary school brings taunts, jeers and bullying to the young boy. He finds solace in books, and is torn by two loves – the bush and the sea.

The music teacher at High School initiates a love for music, but the Depression Years cast a shadow upon his future. Will he be able to continue his studies or be compelled to quit school?

Colin’s plucky spirit carries him through one crisis after another, and the unexpected turns up…

168 pages, Paperback

Published September 4, 2020

Reviews

[Adele Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the memoir of a shy, gentle-hearted English immigrant boy, Colin Barker, and his trials and adventures towards manhood. Burdened with a fractious maternal relationship due to his mother's mental health struggles, and a childhood steeped in poverty, his story draws the reader along highs and lows. Not always an easy read and at times confronting in the matter-of-fact telling of the trials Colin faced, withstanding events that weighed heavily on a soul that delighted in beauty, quietness, and the whimsical joys of life. This story reaches deep into the reader's emotions as Colin learns more of himself, faith, and love, and is penned with recognisable touches of literary flare from Hazel Barker, Colin's dear wife and the author of this work.

[Hazel Barker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The lighthouse may be seen as symbolic of individual consciousness, which kindles “a light in the darkness of mere being,” as Jung famously put it in his memoirs. The lighthouse is also a symbol of safety, a secure place, or an arrival after a long and arduous journey.
The bicycle signifies freedom. The freedom Colin gained by roaming all over Portland to his favourite places like the beach, the old whaling station etc.
I have written this story because I want posterity to know of a way of life that helped shape Australian history. I would like to add to the tapestry of world history and leave a trail for people to follow and learn that life is not a bed of roses but a journey through happiness and sorrow.
Hazel Barker