Foto Circa 1940 ~ Ivy walks the line blindfolded with friends Kath Porter and Tom Muggleton. probable photographer was George McGrath.

Exposure to city living was probably an educational factor in Ivy's life, and Ivy looked forward as a teenager to the weekends when radio broadcast of big band music lead them to the town’s hall where she learned to dance well, from her leading partner, George McGrath, a graduate of the Sydney studio of - Arthur Murray Dance Centre – proficient in Ballroom, Latin, Bridal, Tango and Salsa. Young people enjoy tennis and dancing and it was at these tennis events, that Allan Egan, a railways man, met and courted Ivy and although her heart was with George, an adventurer, who was not ready to “go steady” so Ivy agreed to marring Allan who was ready.

After the first World War had passed, in 1919 Donald Wallace (Ben) Luck and Elsie Ryan were married in Carcoar, New South Wales. Elsie's health was delicate as she suffered from chronic asthma, which may have been due to dusty conditions of living with her parents Edward and Annie, in mining towns during her childhood.

By the Spring of 1919, their first child,, Ivy May was born in Blayney, on 10th. October, followed by  Donald Maxwell, Wallace Edward, Robert (Bobby) and Peter .

In the 1920s Ben Luck and his growing family moved to Surrey Hills in inner Sydney, running a butcher shop business, a trade associated with his farming background and practiced by his siblings, who ran a similar business about Bathurst and Dubbo to the west of Sydney. The small business could not be sustained through the Great Depression years from 1929 and the family returned to the western plains districts settling once again in Blayney. 

Ivy recounted that on return from school, her mother would often be experiencing an asthma attack, and as the ‘girl’ child she became housekeeper and foster carer to each of the males in their turn. So from a young age, she was responsible for the care of her younger siblings. Her four brothers were Donald b. 1924, and Wallace b. 1927 and Robert (Bobby) b. 1932 and the youngest Peter, born in 1941. 

Eve's knowledge of plants and gardens stemmed from years of research into plant identification, propagation and cultivation and from field visits to botanical gardens, wild flowers reserves, open community gardens and from her own gardens. Allan and Eve travelled together throughout the East-coast States and in New Zealand, always visiting garden festivals held in towns, highlighting regional flowering seasons. This included the Bowral tulips Festival, Canberra’s Floriade, local Illawarra garden open days and Jack Dallinger’s cultivated garden and greenhouse in Albury, NSW. Jack was a brother in law to Allan.

Eve was a proponent of continuous  learning and in applying her morals and ethics and board knowledge to family matters. Eve enjoyed the effort of entertaining and improving the home and garden. Her impressive knowledge was gained through reading, magazines and books, listening to radio, discussion and viewing programs on television then putting new gained knowledge into practice thereafter. Some of her favourites radio serials included “Blue Hills” broadcast in the 50s, a dramatised reading and TV viewing drama series of “Poldark”, “Onedin Line”, “Pride and Prejudice”.  Both Allan and Eve were quietly content with crossword puzzles. Allan solved them from the newspaper on the train to and from work, whilst Eve read reference books and understood the rules of cryptic and both were masterful at solving puzzles.

During long days of housework when Allan was at work and the children in school, Taffy the family dog was Eve's confidant and it was said they would have long conversations over tea breaks. Parents and friends from school and neighbours joined in these little ceremonies and such events became increasingly common throuugh the 1960s, and continued well after her children had embarked on their own careers.