Slowly slowly were the best words I heard this year as it has helped me on my journey this year. Reflecting on the madness that occurred over the last 12 months and I am still here and have the coherence to talk about it. So much shit was thrown at our family this year and we have made it out way stronger and more in force than ever before. I worked on my 2022 calendar on new years eve and my heart was shattered into a million pieces looking at my child and what she endured for the first 3 months of this year. I am in awe that she has come out way stronger than before and she has been broken too into a million pieces where each day she is slowly picking them up and we are there to support her. Her counselor is incredible and I am grateful that people appear in your life just when you need them. We still have a journey ahead of us but we will get there. She also has some wonderful friends who will stand by her for the rest of her life.

This is our neighborhood in a jigsaw puzzle that my hubby got for Xmas, it is beautiful to see all the amazing places we have surrounding us. I think we were lucky to have bought our house 17 years ago and live in a neighborhood that is so multicultural. That is a path I am wanting to explore more with my work and meeting the little people and families that live here.

Going back to my calendar project we dusted ourselves off and ran with the rest of the year as I was thinking that it was such a slow horrible start and then it flew by. We had my sister visit from Queensland which made the time extra special. For my birthday month, I loved seeing Hamilton and eating out at Daughter in Law with my good friends. In May it was time out at Healesville to see beautiful animals after COVID hit a couple of family members. In June it was winter time and we were then brave enough to go out into the cold and experience music and art again. Our family holiday by the beach was full of memories of nature and relaxation. I also had a good friend who loves to go out exploring art galleries and visiting the University of Melbourne and through these times we chatted and enjoyed the time away from our day-to-day. Before my placement, we enjoyed an evening at Heide seeing Bruce Munro under the darkness of the stars. During placement there were other family stresses that impacted me more than I could process but I had the support of an incredible mentor teacher to get me through. The tragedy that hit our family are details that I keep close to my family and close friends and again these things that happened to us were caused by other people who I do not even care about (arsehole is the only word I have for them).

Finally, in the last 3 months of the year, things were picking up and I went to see my family in Queensland it was so good to see everyone again and reconnect after two very long years! Ms H became an ambassador for the RCH Christmas campaign and we had a film and photo crew in our house. Inspiration came in October when I could wander art studios and see what is being created close by. My son spent a very long time making his own Halloween costume and here I saw the grit that he has when he was failing his craft experiments but still persisting towards a costume of no-face from the Miyazaki films. November was the time when we had the bees take over our roof cavity and that is A-OK with me as they are the best and I love seeing them out and about every day. My parsley has gone to seed and now I have dill and they are loving it – so thank you bees, having you in our life has shown me that it is important to stay busy and take care of the garden. At the Science Gallery, an exhibit of an egg shared with me the population of the world of an inconceivable 8 billion people sharing this incredible planet earth. It made me realise how finite our resources are and that we need to do whatever is in our power to vote for our future.

When the RCH Christmas campaign came out I saw the strength my little butterfly had as she metamorphosed through the harm thrown at her. I need to mention that the accident happened due to the father she was camping with put alcohol on the campfire. He did not even clear the fire when he did it and H was there innocently with a stick roasting a marshmallow. He mentioned it the night of the accident but all I could care about was my little girl – was she OK and I needed to talk to her. I did not have the energy to mention this when H was in the hospital but now I cannot hide it any longer. It is something everyone needs to know and I have expressed to him the stupidity of the act. My daughter now has had to endure full surface burns and scarring for the rest of her life because someone was being careless. Oh, and his reason for doing it was because the wood was wet and he wanted to make the fire bigger – WTF?!?

We made it to the end of 2023 and can smile with love in our hearts because it is the people who show up for you in your darkest hour are the ones who help you get through – you know who you are and I appreciate each and every one of you. Life has been such a struggle this year and I am grateful for the beautiful people that surround us, so thank you 🙏