Before the rain came, but after the last of the crowd had dispersed from Wollongong Remembrance Day ceremony, two women remained behind.
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They were in no hurry to dash off to the RSL for a pony or hurry back to work, school or base.
They stood out because of their prolonged interest in the wreaths, the real histories of the soldiers who did not make it home.
They weren’t there to mark their own personal loss, although the older lady had years earlier lost a man who was meant to become her son-in-law.
He was on board HMAS Centaur, a hospital ship with 332 people on board when it was sunk by a Japanese submarine near Moreton Island in 1943.
But Berit and Danielle Wilson go to the Cenotaph in MacCabe Park every year for Remembrance Day and ANZAC Day because of what the ceremonies mean.
“It’s always an emotional thing,” Danielle Wilson said. “I think it’s very important for families to bring their kids up showing their respect for the sacrifices made by the Diggers.”
Her mother also has November 11 as her birthday, and said it was a special way to spend it each year.
Nearby, Paul Cracknell was wearing the naval medals won by his father, who ran away age 15 to World War I, then came out of the reserves when it was time to go one more in 1939.
Ray Reay and Alf Green were National Servicemen mid-last century, and they are still involved with their comrades though the “Nashos” association.
And they joined a diverse crowd in true Wollongong style – from school students to members of the armed forces, police and ambulance officers, tattooed twentysomethings and workers in their high-vis.
Somehow, as Ted Millner lifted his bugle for a stunning rendition of the Last Post, every car in the city centre seemed to suddenly go quiet.
Stephanie Cheney and her mum Lana Alessi came from Dapto to lay some flowers in memory of Mrs Alessi’s father-in-law.
“Not many people realise what they’ve done for us and they don’t even know,” Ms Cheney said.
“It’s my way of saying thank you. Even though they didn’t have to, it’s something they chose to do.”