Personal Relationships

Underpinning the majority of the diaries’ storylines are McCallum’s personal relationships.

The depth and duration of these interactions align to his stage of life, some relationships endured for many years.

Relationships With Many Types Of People

In his early years McCallum developed personal relationships with his preacher father, brothers, sisters, best friends, girlfriends, romantic rivals, bosses, prostitutes, madams, clients, subcontractors, suppliers, laborers, tradesmen and landlords.

In his mid years it was with his wife, in-laws, children, council members, doctors, nurses, house help, neighbors, tenants and overseas relatives.

In later years he nurtured relationships with card buddies, business partners, tenants, platonic female company, fellow passengers, politicians, fellow bowling club members, other volunteers and solicitors.

Family Melodrama

The prevailing subplot of the diaries is how McCallum copes with married life. A reader cannot help but explore the complicated love-hate relationship between the diarist & his much younger wife, the petulant and obstinate Henrietta West (Hetty).

McCallum’s warts and all accounts of his marriage, coupled with a household that is so full of drama and dysfunction, provide the guilty pleasure of peering into the window of a home you shouldn’t really be peering into.

We witness periods of romance, love, bliss, mental instability, bewilderment, tension, verbal and physical abuse, disrespect, snide remarks, distrust, manipulation and retaliation.

Emotions

McCallum offers readers a wide range of human emotions. Many of these soften or change over the years:

Apprehension… on whether a girl is fond of him or not.
Jealously… of romantic rivals
Bravado… on a successful sexual conquest
Frustration… on his clients not settling their accounts
Warmth… with his loyal friends
Sensitive… if a girl “crush” declined his invite for a dance
Respect… for his business colleagues
Love… for his young bride
Joy… at the birth of his children
Furious… at his subcontractors for drinking on the job
Patience… with his young children
Compassion… at the bedside of his sick friends
Grief… at the loss of his son and many of his friends
Combative… with laborers & bricklayers not working to his satisfaction
Impulsive… if the health of his sick children continued to deteriorate despite nurse care, he would get rid of & replace the nurse.

Perplexed… at his wife’s unexplained mood swings
Pride… of his son’s first byke ride and first piss in the pot
Anger… at tenants who don’t pay their rent
Camaraderie… with the gentlemen at his exclusive all men’s club
Competition… with fellow bowling club members
Angst… at being stood up for meetings
Exasperated… over his wife’s handling of money
Disappointment… at not receiving letters from his wife while overseas
Disdain… over some of his in-laws behaviors
Happy… at counting his gambling winnings from card buddies
Demanding… with his wife during occasions “she denied me my rights”
Anticipation… of submitting a tender (bid) for a big client
Conflicted… over his wife and tumultuous marriage
Worry… over his daughter as she grows up and comes of age–the same emotion that a modern day father may feel about his own daughter.

Mundane Just Has Important As The Poignant

Part of the enjoyment of the diaries are entries of normal everyday events. The mundane, the tiny little details and niceties of everyday life are just as important to understand the the period as the poignant and momentous.

Some Things Never Change

While much of daily living is different, many things remain the same. Readers will be able to connect to many of McCallum’s accounts of everyday family events that can still be related to today.

Examples: Adjusting to married life after being single, Child milestones, Baby shit the bed, Baby sleeping in own cot (crib), Birth of 1st child, Buying bedspread together, Buying first byke for Bruce, Secret crushes, Decorating together, Family photographs, Father-Son activities, First day at school (Valerie), Got a Pup, In-laws, Kids’ birthday party, Kids staying at grandparents, Kids past their normal bedtime, Labour pains, Maid House-helper (8/- pw), Move-in as couple, Nappy diaper changes, Rings, Santa Claus, Spouse allowance, Sweet 16th birthday, Take kiddies for ice cream, tram rides, to the beach, to the circus, to see the animals, Teaches Bruce how to ride bike, Tired kids (carry them), Weighing kids.