Hundreds of pages detailing the destruction of a family and the daily humiliation to which a little girl was subjected were handed to the Royal Commission. Friend Sylvia says, "I know, because I helped edit them. Rosemary gave everything she had to recalling her childhood, because only she knew what it had cost her, and finally she had a chance to share her story. By the time she had finished recounting her painful memories, she had written something evocative and powerful".
When Rosemary finally had the chance to speak with a Commissioner, it was her opportunity to hand over these memories to someone who might validate her experiences, someone who might begin to understand the hell she lived through.
On one page of these documents was a newspaper photograph showing her smiling. She looked joyful. Only someone who knew these children would understand why. One day a year they would be allowed an outing. On this one day she was allowed to forget, just for an hour or so, the constant, ritualized abuse from the staff and other children of the Home. Maybe in her mind, the joy that is every child's birthright bubbled over, just for an instant, captured by a cameraman.
But it was only an illusion; her ill-fitting swimsuit humiliated her, the flippers she held were used to accuse her of a theft, one she would pay for many times over. She had cause to recall that day with distress, as no thought was given to protecting her from sunburn and she suffered many days from severe burns.
But this one photograph from her childhood, plus a scant memo detailing her recommendations for reform, were all that the Royal Commission deemed worthy of keeping.
It took months for Rosemary to compile her report to the Royal Commission. When it came time to ask what had been done with her testimony, it seemed to Rosemary, that her childhood abuse was repeated. Hundreds of pages were handed back to her without a word. They were not photocopied, recorded, or kept.
What possible reason could the Commissioners provide for trashing the account of a survivor like this? Wasn't she important enough? Wasn't her orphanage one of those chosen by the Commission for closer scrutiny? Whatever the reason, the horror of Rosemary's childhood returned in full force, impelled by the callous disregard shown to her by the Royal Commission.