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Annie Littlehales started Tuesday like any other day, working as a baby sleep consultant in Sydney. Then her phone started to ping. “Annie, is this you?” her friends asked after reading a story in The Canberra Times. It took a few minutes before it clicked. It was Ms Littlehales, but even her memory was hazy 22 years after scribbling a message on to the floorboards of her former Chisholm bedroom. “It’s hilarious, I had totally forgotten we had done it until I saw the article. It was my dad’s idea, but just to know someone has lived in that space above our writings all these years and we’d even forgotten, it’s amazing” Ms Littlehales said. When she was 20 years old, Annie wrote a message for the future owner of her bedroom to find. “Today’s the 10th June 1998. Who knows when/if someone will read this.” It took 22 years, but Shannon and Carleigh Regan from Peppers Flooring found Annie’s message while they renovated the home. Social media then worked overtime to find Annie, and messages came in from far and wide as Canberrans tagged potential culprits in the article. Alongside Annie’s message are the words “This is Armenian,” followed by a line of flowing cursive script with an artistic symbol underneath, a message her father left behind. “We’re from Iran but we’re Armenian, so my parents speak Persian, and when my parents first met, my dad used to call my mum this word in Persian that means ‘cutie’. He would write it vertically rather than horizontally but would also add a picture to it. So that symbol goes back to when they first met, and it’s unique to their relationship.” The other artist of the family is Annie’s younger brother, Arby, who decided to draw Homer Simpson. “As the youngest in the family and a bit of a rascal I related more to Bart, but I just knew I could draw Homer without making a mistake with the permanent marker. And you know it was the ’90s, The Simpsons were pretty big at the time,” he said. Arby has fond memories of growing up in Chisholm in the ’90s, and a few scars to show from it too. “There were always a lot of kids, it was a really nice little community. I’ve got very fond memories of skateboarding and playing on that street, and I’ve still got scars on my knuckles from a skateboarding accident there,” he said. For Annie, the drawings remind her of precious family time, going to school in Wanniassa and the lively Canberra music scene, but they’re also a reminder of how her father’s idea to write on those floorboards stuck with her. “That sentimentality has really stayed with me, I’ve got a journal for both of my kids where I describe things that are going on in their lives, and I’ll give it to them when they’re older,” she said. “I guess it’s that desire to document, when I look at those floorboards that’s what it is, and it’s something that comes from my dad. I love to capture memories through writing and keeping journals was always a thing I did growing up, and I’m still doing it.”
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Annie Littlehales started Tuesday like any other day, working as a baby sleep consultant in Sydney. Then her phone started to ping.
“Annie, is this you?” her friends asked after reading a story in The Canberra Times.
It took a few minutes before it clicked. It was Ms Littlehales, but even her memory was hazy 22 years after scribbling a message on to the floorboards of her former Chisholm bedroom.
“It’s hilarious, I had totally forgotten we had done it until I saw the article. It was my dad’s idea, but just to know someone has lived in that space above our writings all these years and we’d even forgotten, it’s amazing” Ms Littlehales said.
“Today’s the 10th June 1998. Who knows when/if someone will read this.”
It took 22 years, but Shannon and Carleigh Regan from Peppers Flooring found Annie’s message while they renovated the home.
The notes found under a Chisholm home’s carpet. Pictures: Supplied
Social media then worked overtime to find Annie, and messages came in from far and wide as Canberrans tagged potential culprits in the article.
Alongside Annie’s message are the words “This is Armenian,” followed by a line of flowing cursive script with an artistic symbol underneath, a message her father left behind.
“We’re from Iran but we’re Armenian, so my parents speak Persian, and when my parents first met, my dad used to call my mum this word in Persian that means ‘cutie’. He would write it vertically rather than horizontally but would also add a picture to it. So that symbol goes back to when they first met, and it’s unique to their relationship.”
The other artist of the family is Annie’s younger brother, Arby, who decided to draw Homer Simpson.
“As the youngest in the family and a bit of a rascal I related more to Bart, but I just knew I could draw Homer without making a mistake with the permanent marker. And you know it was the ’90s, The Simpsons were pretty big at the time,” he said.
Annie Littlehales. Picture: Supplied
Arby has fond memories of growing up in Chisholm in the ’90s, and a few scars to show from it too.
“There were always a lot of kids, it was a really nice little community. I’ve got very fond memories of skateboarding and playing on that street, and I’ve still got scars on my knuckles from a skateboarding accident there,” he said.
For Annie, the drawings remind her of precious family time, going to school in Wanniassa and the lively Canberra music scene, but they’re also a reminder of how her father’s idea to write on those floorboards stuck with her.
“That sentimentality has really stayed with me, I’ve got a journal for both of my kids where I describe things that are going on in their lives, and I’ll give it to them when they’re older,” she said.
“I guess it’s that desire to document, when I look at those floorboards that’s what it is, and it’s something that comes from my dad. I love to capture memories through writing and keeping journals was always a thing I did growing up, and I’m still doing it.”
