My father was a teacher, I am a teacher, and I married a teacher. Up until 2008 I spent my life living in rural and regional Queensland. This was a lifestyle choice and I never had plans to end up living in Brisbane. That changed in 2007 when my husband died of a terminal brain tumour, diagnosed 16 months earlier.
With my children living away from home I decided to move somewhere he and I would have never chosen – the city! The move has been a mostly successful challenge, especially in late 2012 where (to my surprise) I remarried!
I have been on leave from full time work for two years and miss the sense of challenge and satisfaction you get from doing something worthwhile. I hope that singing in the choir will keep ‘the glooms’ at bay, while also having the potential to make new friends as well as contribute to the ‘social good’ – one of my strongest life values.
Photograph by Hayley Marrs.