Ten Things

10 things you may not have know about me….

1.    I grew up on a farm in the Wheatbelt about 4 hours east of Perth.  I had an amazing childhood with my Mum, Dad and brother Ben on the farm.  My family still work out there together – farming wheat and sheep.  It’s still my home.  It always will be.  I’ve left a huge piece of my heart out there, and I always feel so much better, and clearer of heart and mind once I’ve had a stay.

 

2.    I was told I wasn’t smart enough to do my TEE when I was in year 10.  My math teacher and school Guidance Counsellor, pulled me into the office one day for a meeting with my Mum, and told me that they didn’t think I’d cope, or be able to obtain a good score in my TEE, so best avoid it.  Thank goodness for my mother, who stood up for me, and supported me in sitting my TEE – which was what I wanted to do! Their lack of belief in me pushed me to strive harder, and I sat my TEE and did really well, and got my first preference for Uni to study Nursing.  Just goes to show – don’t always believe what others believe of you – a lesson I’ve taken with me to this day.

 

3.    My mother is my hero.  Like literally, my hero.  I know a lot of people say they love and look up to their mothers, but my mum is amazing.  She has the kindest heart, and most generous soul.  Sometimes I wonder if it can possibly be real.  But it is.  She forgives the most heinous behaviours directed at her, and always – and I mean always – sees the positives.  She is goodness all the way through.  There are not black spots in her.  And as a mother, she gives her all.  When my brother had an accident a few years ago, he was essentially written off as a lost cause – there was no hope to be had, and they suggested we turn off the ventilators and let him go.  But not my mum.  She never gave up.  She sat at his bedside EVERY day.  She’d massage his legs, and do gentle physio and OT – and her love prevailed.  She never lost faith he’d come back to us – and he did.  My mothers love is stronger than any impossibility.  She is amazing.  She is my hero.

 

4.    My brother is my inspiration to live well.  He almost lost his life seven years ago in a terrible accident.  He was left fighting for his life.  Once he won that battle he had to learn to do everything – and I mean EVERYTHING again.  His little voice started back as a whisper, and slowly he was able to talk when the words would come to him.  He had to learn to slowly move each and every part of his body again.  To learn all those things that we take for granted – simple things like being able to balance upright whilst sitting.  He never missed a beat – and maybe he never had a choice because he had an amazing mother who pushed him, and a family cheering and encouraging from the sidelines.  His story taught me that you never give up on life, and that it is never to late to start again.  And that it could always be so much worse.  He inspires me to get up and live fearlessly – or at least to feel the fear and do it anyway.

 

5.    I almost quit Nursing 6 months in because I really wanted to study Journalism.  Sometimes I really wish I had of listened to that little niggle in my gut – that intuition.  But in other ways, I’m glad I’ve walked the path I have – those things have made me the person that I am.

 

6.     I LOVE music – and once upon a time I used to go busking on the streets of Fremantle.  It was one of the bravest, and thrilling things I think I’ve ever done – that was feeling the fear and doing it anyway. I’d play my guitar and sing away an entire afternoon.  My favourite memory was when an awesome djembe drummer came and played alongside me for a few songs.  It was musical joy!

 

7.    I was born with a birth mark on my foot that the hospital staff thought was dirt when I was born.  They were trying to scratch it off me after I was born, before realising it was a birthmark.  I have another birthmark behind my left leg that is a round circle shape – I always hated it as a child because of the constant teasing – but as an adult I often forget that I have it until someone reminds me.

 

8.    I have four tattoos – and I only regret one.  It scarred terribly whilst being tattooed, and as such the colour didn’t take properly.  That is the only one I regret.  But if I were to do it again….not sure I would!

 

9.    I love seafood.  Every day, all day.  I never get sick of it.  Every kind.  I think it comes from spending so much time up at Kalbarri as a youngster and my Dad would always go fishing.  Lots of happy memories – the food especially!

 

10.    I have double jointed elbows.  I kind of never realised until I broke my arm and needed to have the ulnar bone repaired with a pin and plate – and apparently I was tricky to put back together because the surgeon wasn’t aware at the time! It doesn’t make anything easier – it just looks kind of weird.

 

I’m sure there’s more….until then…Happy Tuesday!

xx