FIVE

Birth Death and Marriages. The three major events in a person’s life, the beginning, middle and end, reduced to a sheet of paper with a government stamp on it.

DEATH CERTIFICATE
DECEASED	Family Name: Valentine
	Christian or Given Name (s): Guy Francis
	Date of Death: 25 April, 1985
	Place of Death: Rushcutters Bay, Sydney
	Sex and Age: Male
	Place of Birth:
	Period of Residence in Australia:
	Place of Residence:
	Usual occupation: Unemployed
MARRIAGE(S)CHILDRENPARENTSMEDICAL	Cause of Death: Immersion
	Name of Certifying Medical Practitioner
	or Coroner: B.J. Humphreys, State
	Coroner, Glebe
BURIAL	Date: May, 1985
	Place: Rockwood Cemetery
INFORMANT	Name: Sgt. R.W. Hindley
	Address: Kings Cross Police Station
	la Elizabeth Bay Road
	Kings Cross

There were so many gaps, so many of the details of his life unknown.

Immersion. Death by drowning. I had expected cirrhosis, any of the number of ways alcohol can kill you. But he drowned. Anzac Day. Big drinking day. Rushcutters Bay. Got drunk and fell into the water.

Had the police tried to get in touch with Mina or me, his ‘next-of-kin’? They knew his name. Valentine. It’s not as if it was Smith or Jones. They wouldn’t have to go through too many names in the phone book. In 1985 I was in America. But Mina was around. Maybe she was out when they called and they left it at that. With a dero you don’t try too hard.

I stared at the death certificate for so long that when I looked away I could still see the lines of print. I put it in a folder where I keep things I don’t want to lose. Now, as well as the odd photo and a dinner set that had never been used, I had this piece of paper. It wasn’t much to sum up a life.