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A Year of Tenderness

 

It’s a beautiful, hot Queensland summer day at the beach; the water is clear, see-through green. Calm. I look down at my toes, digging into yellow sand. My friend and I are bobbing around in the soft waves; hats perched on our heads, sunglasses shielding our eyes from the glare of the mid-morning sun.

We talk about work, children, food, Chinese New Year and the year of the Rooster, then the mood shifts and my friend asks, ‘Have you two always been good together?’ She looks towards the beach umbrella where my husband is laying back in a chair reading his Christmas book.

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Stuck Together With Glue And Love

memory-book-6

Recently I was asked to speak with a small group of people about starting their memory books. Glenys wants to put together a pictorial story of her husband’s life. Colin wants to update his memory book to include a brother and sister who he has just discovered. Therese wants to trace her memories back to Ireland and add them to the Australian branch. Libby has just finished compiling a memory book of her parent’s farm and would like to extend it to include her family. Mary wants to write her personal story. (more…)

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KINDNESS

mt-nelson

I don’t always remember to be kind. Sometimes I am on a treadmill, my brain too full to notice the wonderful things around me. Sometimes the compassion needed to express kindness is hidden under a block of busyness and is not easy to access. Worry, problems, time constraints, selfishness, not being in the moment; all bury kindness somewhere inside me. (more…)

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She’s Got a Messy Soul

fullsizerender

She’s got a heavy heart, a messy soul, a reckless mind,

and I think it’s beautiful the way she carries herself.

Sean Bates

When I read this, something inside me relaxed; something moved through me and I realised that I can have amazing things, good and bad happening in my life and still be OK. Still be the essential me. (more…)