I was a psychiatric nurse until I decided I needed a break and got an office job. That’s where I met Steve. We lived together for 7 years until we married. He asked me about 3 times, on bended knee. I was like, don’t be so silly, get up!
Then one day I got down on one knee, grabbed his hand and said, Will you marry me? A little tear came down his cheek and he said, of course.
We ended up buying a boat and traveling around Asia together. We were off the coast of Malaysia when Steve had a heart attack in the middle of the night and died. It was horrific.
I remember sitting on the boat waiting for help and thinking, what’s going to become of me?
I found a job and ended up living in a share house and then I started feeling really unwell. I’m 5 foot 11, and at that stage I was 39 kilos; my hair was falling out. I was just so dreadfully ill. I couldn’t work and was diagnosed with a rare immune condition.
A friend from Melbourne drove down and got me, and I moved in with her. I was very unwell, I’d be lucky if I could get out of my pajamas. Everything was so hard. When she decided to sell her house, everything compounded and imploded. My parents had died, and I didn’t have kids. I had no one.
This was the first place they showed me, and I said yes yes yes yes. Now I live here with my dog Ollie – he’s my little companion. I go out for walks with him regularly, and he’s company.
I’ve become friends with my neighbours, and we are all really close. We’ve created a community. One shares his food and the tomatoes and cucumbers he grows, and another is a real support who goes to art class with me.
Another helped me out when I was sick – he brought me food when I got out of the hospital. If anything went wrong, even if my power went out, I could get any one of them, and they would be able to help me, and they know I’d do the same for them, too.
I feel very safe here because they are all there. I really had to rebuild my life. I was lucky because I have a lot of internal resources, but that’s not to say it was easy. As I always say, out of something bad, something good will come if you can just get through it.
I have my artwork up on the walls and I’ve recently started doing portraits, which is my latest passion. I need a safe, calm space to be creative. I have a great social life now, probably more than I have ever had before.
And having a safe and secure home has allowed me to get well again. At one stage I was so sick I couldn’t see a future. Having this home was the first step for other things falling into place.
I see myself here forever. I’ll be crawling up those stairs when I’m 80. I relish each day in a way I never used to. I’m not going to have a landlord come and say you are out next month. Not having that overlying stress all the time has been a lifesaver.
When you have that security, you find yourself filling up again. I figure I’m meant to be here.
