Brett Anthony Sandry born Thursday 3 December 1970 in Gilgandra Hospital to Gorden & Margaret Sandry. He was the youngest of six children.
I (Doreen) was 10 years old when Brett was born. I don’t remember much about the whole hospital experience except that Mum had to stay there for quite a while, possibly weeks, due to needing a hysterectomy operation almost immediately after Brett’s birth. Even when mum did come home she was unable to do any work around the house for up to six months, or until she had recovered completely.
Brett was kept in hospital for some days with mum and he was mostly bottle fed due to her being unwell. This meant that a lot of the caring for Brett fell on me as Dad was off working or driving trucks. I remember getting us girls ready for school in the morning, the boys stayed with mum and any extended family who could help. When I got home from school I would wash clothes and start preparing dinner and get the kids through baths and ready for bed.
When I think back, the six months seemed to go on forever and I worked so hard at keeping everything sorted out for mum. During this time Brett would sleep with me and he became very much like my Bub. I can remember thinking all I want to do when I grow up is be a mum. Even after mum was well enough to do everything again it was already evident that Brett had built a very close rapport with me and he really did become my Bub. I remember walking to the shops and going to the park with the other kids with him in the pram. I was like the big sister/mum to all the kids while we all lived at home. I have always called him Bub, right through his life. He made the point one time that I was the only one who could call him Bub, which was so special.
When we lived in a house on Warren Rd, Gilgandra we used to have a horse that we were able to ride in the back yard. On Brett’s 1st Birthday I dressed him up in a blue dress and tied a pink ribbon in his hair and he looked very sweet, I love that photo.
As I got older life changed and my focus changed and when I was 16 my outlook on life was moving toward young men. I actually left home in 1977 and moved to the city to work. I continued to travel back to Gilgandra regularly and spend time with my family. I was able to catch up on what’s been happening and how he was doing at school and with footy and cricket. We have maintained a fairly close relationship even though we were apart through our adult years.
We were lucky enough in 1999, during his working life, to have him stay with us in Granville for about six weeks. He’d had a car accident where his hand got crushed and his specialist had replaced some bones with metal and referred him to rehabilitation in Sydney to help him adjust to the changes. They told him he would probably only recover 30% of movement but he worked so stubbornly hard at it that he regained pretty close 100% —which is terrific.
Life has thrown in many changes with work, marriage, children, health issues and through all these we have still managed to visit with each other and catch up. It was great last Saturday when all five siblings got together at his house and had a great time chatting together and remembering.
Brett Anthony Sandry passed away on Tuesday 13 May 2025 at 10.00 am at home in Singleton with his wife, Elizabeth Sandry after a short but intense period of illness.