Hot days, proteas and driving without a license – Part 2
One hot Saturday afternoon in a late October, Dad wanted to go to Bunnings to buy a protea. He loved those plants, and I wanted to do everything I could to give him some joy in his last few weeks on earth. So, it was up to me to take him because Mum had an […]
Hot days, proteas and driving without a license – Part 1
One of my favourite podcasts is the Blindboy Podcast. The episode titled ‘Crying and Shame and Underpants’, 23rd November, 2022 brought back painful memories that I had buried decades ago. When Blindboy shared the story of his father dying from cancer and the realities of watching someone succumb to that sinister disease, it reminded me […]
A Walk in the Park – Westgate Park (Birding by Ear)
Recently an exciting opportunity landed in my lap – an invitation to lead a park sensory walk. As someone who cherishes the tranquillity of park strolls and embraces every chance that comes my way (well, most of them), I eagerly accepted. The focus of this adventure aptly named ‘Birding by Ear” was to learn, listen […]
So you went to hospital for back pain
‘So you went to hospital for back pain’, he said in a condescending voice. Sentence. Not question. I knew he was annoyed as soon as he opened his mouth because he hadn’t fixed my damn back. That was the response from my physiotherapist after six weeks of excruciating, relentless back pain. During that time, I […]
I had the jab today
Unfortunately, not the one that’s on everyone’s lips and in the upper arm of a few others. I had the jab for osteoporosis, aka The Big O. I say unfortunately because I never thought I’d eventually have osteoporosis when I was diagnosed with osteopenia. That’s a fancy name for low bone density. But what’s not […]
I’ll be sticking my arm out for the jab when it’s my turn
Everyone’s carrying on about the Covid-19 vaccine roll out being delayed. Only because the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison promised that four million Australians would be vaccinated by the end of this month (March 2021). And by the end of October this year everyone who wants to have the vaccination will have had the jab. If […]
Moisturisers, medicated ointments, bandages and tears
Image: https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/57daab Moisturisers, medicated ointments, bandages and tears. This is often the bedtime ritual for a child with eczema (also known as atopic dermatitis). The daytime ritual includes more of the same but with a range of other things as well such as monitoring everything they eat and touch. When a flare-up occurs, it has […]
How to interpret the Social Bubble for singles living alone
During the pandemic, life has been especially hard for people living alone. With only three weeks between harsh lockdowns, less in some suburbs, many singles did not get the opportunity to reconnect with a real live person. Many people (myself included) have only been in a room with other people a couple of times since […]
Living With Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP)
I have this ‘thing’ called Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). It’s a genetic disease that causes irreversible vision loss (low vision) and can lead to complete blindness. I have downplayed this for most of my life because it’s too hard to explain why you can see a bird in the sky but you can’t see the pencil in front […]
How to tell young children about Covid-19 through story
The bad ‘C’ germs visit Planet Earth How do you explain to a three year old what is going on in the world at the moment? My eldest grandchild Kieran is now just 3 years old. His tiny world is shrinking. He doesn’t go to day care anymore. He only sees family friends and relatives […]