Sterrys everywhere

In a vain attempt to bring some kind of meaning to my existence on this god forsaken planet I have followed a lead from my sister pointing me in the direction of website dedicated to the Sterry name: http://www.zipworld.com.au/~rsterry/gen/ Ok given, it’s not the most useable and aesthetic site you’ve ever seen but it’s jam packed with information on fellow Sterry’s. Whilst surfing this site I found amongst other things the Sterry Coat of arms. Now I’m no historian and I can only draw on what I’ve read but what where they on?! Some of that profound Latin bumf makes no sense what so ever. Apparently the Sterry motto is ‘Pro rege et patria’ which roughly translates to ‘For I was ruling the fatherland’ – well that’s my take on it, specifically for any Latin geeks out there it converts to ‘For I was ruling and fatherland’. Typical Sterry more than likely written whilst under the influence as it’s rubbish. I would of said a more appropriate motto would be, to quote if I may from a personal legend of my own ‘We’ve spent a fortune on booze women and gambling, the rest we wasted.’ I digress….

So it’s on this site I stumble across the site editor – a fellow Robert Sterry who lives in NSW Australia. What a coincidence I say, and I’ve been to Australia! In hindsight not at all really, I’m on a Sterry site full of Sterry’s not that odd to see it’s been pulled together by someone sharing the same Christian name. The fact that he lives in Australia is nothing more than probability, there are Sterry’s all over the world.

So anyway I figure it’s too good an opportunity to miss and emailed him. I hoped he was cool, witty, and damn good looking; truth is I you cant tell a thing about people from email. This electronic letter society we name email gives nothing away. They can often seem cold and their easily misinterpreted. In this circumstance though you cant blame him, I could be anyone. I could be some fake trying to clone Robert Sterry’s and rip them off figuring this was a good place to start for info. With this in mind I thought it would be weeks before I received a reply, if at all. So you can understand my surprise and joy when in no less than two minutes he has replied;

Well, this is the very first time I’ve been contacted by a Rob Sterry. So you’re from the Lowestoft Sterrys? I was in Lowestoft in 2001 and walked along the seawall to the Sparrow’s Nest with a very sprightly 75 year old local Sterry, who had recently had done two hips operations. Hardy lot you Lowestoftian Sterrys!
Very happy to see where you fit in.
Best, Robert.

This Correspondence continued with two more emails with me pointing out how odd it was to be emailing my namesake across the other side of the world. We shared Sterry facts almost in a jousting manor, passing each other in the virtual world, as we did dropping in Sterry belters to show we meant business and knew our stuff. He knocked me right off my horse when he told me my Grandmothers name, including her middle name which I didn’t even know! What a blow that was – to use this fighting analogy I’ve started it was a haymaker from down town which blew me away, he knew his shit, and Sterry shit at that.

I’m hoping my namesake can bring some light to my ancestral trail, may be I can work out why I’m like I am, where I get my traits from. Who’s responsible for this mixed up complicated head I carry around on my body? I’d like to have a chat with them, hypothetically speaking of course. I’d probably ask how or if he ever reached true happiness. I’m still looking, I think? Not sure I’ll ever find those answers – who has? For now I’ll seek refuge from the bottom of the bottle, just like those Sterry’s before me. Just kidding.

Sterry coat of arms