Known to taxi-driving colleagues as ‘Terrice the Checkout Chick”, I was told we must meet. We first met at the taxi base at Artarmon. By way of objection to the taxi dress code, Terry wore two mismatched bright fluorescent long socks. I was introduced to fashion as a statement of public protest, something that would continue for the next nearly thirty years of our shared life.
The Mohawk was chosen to disguise the scars from surgery. When he realised the impact of the blue Mohawk on complete strangers, he used the opportunity to talk about Beyond Blue. He observed that in most waiting rooms people were anxious and often depressed, and so commenced a significant ministry - to companion and bring a sense of possibility to others in the mental, spiritual and emotional struggle of facing and living with cancer.
Terry believed political and social involvement were a requirement for responsible adulthood. After all, he reasoned, how could you make a contribution in the world without being interested, informed and active? He was a type of swinging voter - mostly Labor, but at various time Democrats or Greens. He was an advocate for Refugees and we housed a number of people in Adelaide. He was an ALLY, often standing in as a parental figure when people identifying as LGBTIQ+ were suffering from an absence of non-judgmental adults in their lives.
Terry loved creation... frogs and birds, beaches and wonders, even spiders. He had a collection of frog items, made or found by friends who saw his delight in their thoughtfulness. In Adelaide, when he was beginning to find it more difficult to get out, he was able to find companionship among the many doves that would come to feed off our balcony. He loved dogs, having had several of his own, and he enjoyed visiting friends whose dogs came to look forward to seeing him.
Like moths about a flame, people and animals would come to Terry. He made them feel fuller and somehow more involved in life. He was a magnet - not the kind to hold fast and stick, but the kind that helps find you when you are lost.
(C) A A Koh-Butler, 2020
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