Special Note: I had this Post finished and ready to publish on 21 December 2023. And then the tragic news of a mass shooting in Prague came through. I have therefore held back the story for a couple of weeks out of respect for the people who lost their life.
23 May – 4 June 2012
Wed, 30 May 2012 17:35:16 +0200
Hi Nance and Barb,
Hope all goes well with u both.
We have been in Prague … Read the rest ... “We’ll Always Have Prague – and the China Lady on the Wall”
Photos played a very big part in Trenna’s life, especially in later years as her mobility decreased. She spent hundreds of hours sorting, scanning, dating and captioning photos stretching back to her very earliest days.
I therefore take quite a bit of time and care in choosing the photos I use on the site.
Below is a gallery of all the photos I have used so far. I have also created a page that displays all those photos. You should … Read the rest ... “All Photos Published on the TrennaMahney.com Website”
by Greg
The holiday season is upon us, so I thought I’d do an entertaining friends post.
Trenna absolutely loved mixing with people, and she loved good food. And lunch time was the ideal socialising time for her.
First thing in the morning she was often stiff and/or sore from the night, and her morning drugs had not had time to take effect. In the evening she was often exhausted from the activities of the day. Lunch time though, … Read the rest ... “How to Stage a Trenna Lunch – with recipes”
At the end of each Post on this web site there is an opportunity to make a comment. I love it when people do and the comments stay attached to that particular post.
That usually works well, but if you have read a Post you probably won’t come back to it so you will miss any comments that are made after that time.
Often commenters/commentators have been able to add extra information or correct something I … Read the rest ... “Everyone’s Got an Opinion”
Intro by Greg, the rest by Tren
Below are Trenna’s notes of a 4 day break we had in 2015. We had booked a house just outside the small but delightful town of Bridgetown, in the South West corner of Western Australia. It is about a 3 hour drive from our place. Oh, and Bridgetown can be cold!
I’ll tell you up front that the story is not a remarkable one. It reminds me of a Japanese movie or … Read the rest ... “A Few Days in Bridgetown – 2015”
by Greg
Regular readers will know that I have recently returned from a holiday. I went to the UK, with a side trip to Budapest. The whole trip was great.
Whilst away I checked and approved comments submitted to the website, but didn’t write any new posts. That worked fine, my spirits were high and I was busy every day. I also kept a bit of a journal … Read the rest ... “Kangaroos Having Fun”
By Greg
This story took me longer to write than perhaps any other, but it was a tale I wanted to tell.
Trenna’s birthday has recently passed so obviously I started thinking about her. One thing that came to mind was the time she spent with our neighbour Terry, near the end of Terry’s life.
Terry, her husband Neil, and their young son Jason moved into the house on the corner, two doors up from us … Read the rest ... “The Craft Group and Caring for Terry”
Intro and extra clarifications by Greg, the rest by Tren
As I’ve said previously … In Trenna’s iPad she has written summaries of each year. As you will see from what she has written she has gleaned the information retrospectively from a wide range of sources.
As I reproduce them on this site I’ll take the opportunity to clarify and expand on some of the stories. Trenna wrote these summaries (and there … Read the rest ... “1991”
Letter by Tren, Intro and Background by Greg
If you read The Kitchen Tapes series on this website you will find out a lot about Trenna, including that she experienced quite a lot of bullying at high school, primarily because she looked different to other people. Her thick, coke-bottle glasses didn’t help at all.
Then in 1974, when Trenna was 17 years of age, Optometrist Nick Humphry prescribed some rigid (hard) contact lenses and they transformed her … Read the rest ... “Thank You & Au Revoir Nick”
By Greg
You may have noticed that we have just passed the 50th anniversary of the birth of hip-hop.
It wasn’t an anniversary that was on my radar, in fact, neither Trenna or I were big fans of hip-hop. We didn’t dislike it, it was just that there was a lot of other music around. That is until hot one afternoon in December 2013.
Each year Perth has an international festival. And each year I … Read the rest ... “Trenna & Public Enemy – 50 years of hip-hop”
Intro and extra clarifications by Greg, the rest by Tren
As I’ve said previously … In Trenna’s iPad she has written summaries of each year. As you will see from what she has written she has gleaned the information retrospectively from a wide range of sources.
As I reproduce them on this site I’ll take the opportunity to clarify and expand on some of the stories. Trenna wrote these summaries (and there … Read the rest ... “1990”
By Greg
The FREE e-book I refer to is a copy of the autobiography Jack’s Luck by Jack Mahney (written with assistance from Trenna). There is a download link to it at the bottom of the page.
Some time around early 1997 my parents lived in a retirement village and on a weekend we would often visit them. It was nice place with plenty of gardens and lots of … Read the rest ... “Jack’s Luck (and a FREE e-book!)”
By Greg
We were always going to feel a little uncomfortable in this environment. But I felt it was something we had to do – and Trenna was prepared to go along to prove that I was wrong!
It was a Slim Dusty concert at the Perth Concert Hall.
I cast my mind back to our house a month or two earlier.
“Hey, Tren. Slim Dusty is doing a concert at the Concert Hall”.
“So?” Those two letters were … Read the rest ... “Eric Bogle and Slim Dusty – Two Concerts We Remembered”
Intro and extra clarifications by Greg, the rest by Tren
As I’ve said previously … In Trenna’s iPad she has written summaries of each year. As you will see from what she has written she has gleaned the information retrospectively from a wide range of sources.
As I reproduce them on this site I’ll take the opportunity to clarify and expand on some of the stories. Trenna wrote these summaries (and there … Read the rest ... “1989”
By Greg
This post has a connection to the Menu Diaries series. If you aren’t familiar with the series, a good place to start would be HERE.
Some of the items and practices I discuss here are mentioned in the series of posts in which I explain some of the mechanisms Trenna used to cope with her Marfan’s Syndrome. That series starts here.
As I have explained a few times, meals and their preparation were central to Trenna’s … Read the rest ... “Tales From Trenna’s Kitchen”
If you haven’t read The Darwin Letters yet, what are you doing here? The Darwin Letters start here.
Once Trenna arrived in Darwin it became apparent quite quickly that she wanted to write to family and friends to tell them of how different it was to Perth, and to tell of the adventures we had undertaken.
These days you would use Socials to get the word out, but of course in 1994 that wasn’t … Read the rest ... “Funny and/or Clever Newsletter Titles”
In Trenna’s iPad she has written summaries of each year. As you will see from what she has written she has gleaned the information retrospectively from a wide range of sources.
As I reproduce them on this site I’ll take the opportunity to clarify and expand on some of the stories. Trenna wrote these summaries (and there are many of them) to help her and I recall our many experiences. It was probably … Read the rest ... “1988”
Note: The recordings I refer to in this piece formed The Kitchen Tapes series. It starts HERE.
The ABC is Australia’s national media and broadcasting service. And on the ABC Radio National station on weekday mornings the Life Matters show has been running an interesting segment entitled Life in 500 Words.
I have listened to quite a few and there are some fascinating stories … Read the rest ... “Trenna’s iPad”
Notes by Trenna, Intro and Extra Information and Stories by Greg
This is another in the “Rough Notes” series. It is a term I made up for this website and describes several documents on Trenna’s iPad where she has accumulated information to help in her effort to tell her story.
This one is just a list of some landmark events from the 1980s. I have used them as a prompt and have added a number of stories and … Read the rest ... “Trenna’s Rough Notes on the 1980s Before Greg”
The first instalment in this series of angsty teenage poetry is HERE.
Friend, is a word you’ll hear or use nearly every day But do you really know the actual meaning of the word Is it to be kind to someone and talk to them? No, a lot more! A friend is someone who is comforting in times of sorrow A person who has always… Read the rest ... “Angsty Teenage Poetry #2”