Lover of Life

I love my life.   I love my husband, my son, my adopted family, my Tribe and my friends, my dog Cino, sunshine and the beach, drinking tea,  living life thoughtfully and healthily, cooking and eating healthy and delicious food, cooking a feast for those I love (enough for a small country), champagne, wine, gin and tonic, music ranging from Gospel to Classical to Rock n’ Roll, Elvis Presley and the Elvis Festival at Parkes every year,  dancing and yoga, singing, (even though I crack mirrors at times), animals and birds of all kinds, especially dogs, the beach and the sea, Mother Nature, travelling here and around the world, making a difference topeople globally, contributing to the charities and projects I am committed to, writing and telling stories, and living life with gratitude.  I adore kids and look forward one day to being a grandmother.  Meanwhile, I volunteer at our local Primary School in Berry, New South Wales, and have been a judge of the annual public speaking championships for several years, and where it is my great privilege to teach Ethics.   I love this country and am a very proud Australian, but I love visiting Africa where we were born and  going on safari;   I’m especially mad about elephants.

I married my childhood sweetheart, my Beloved Gerald, when I was nineteen and he was twenty-one, in the small town we grew up in Chingola, Northern Rhodesia.  We had already been ‘going out’ for five years.  We have a blessed and loving relationship that has grown and endured many rocky times over fifty years, and it grows happier and stronger every day.  We have one son Joshua who is a talented film maker and Rock Star photographer (truly, that is no exaggeration) who is blessed with a loving heart and film star good looks.  I can boast, I’m a proud Mother.  Have a look at his website:  www.threesongsoflash.com.au

My darling parents Tom and Vera Guthrie died in 2009, just six months apart.   I loved them absolutely, we shared our lives on a daily basis;  they lived close by and lived life passionately.   A friend once commented they would celebrate "the opening of an envelope" - and we celebrated a lot.  Their absence remains a huge hole in my heart and my life and I still weep for their loss.   I have an older sister in Perth and a younger brother in South Africa.

 

 


Writer

 

I have written all of my life - diaries, letters, short stories, cards, emails, drafts, magazine articles, travel journals, obscure notes and exercise books filled with observations of life.  When I was nine years old I wrote a love letter to Elvis Presley, which my father found and read out loud with great amusement;  I nearly died of embarrassment, especially as he also found me practising kissing a make believe Elvis on my bedroom wall.   I have drawers filled with files and a computer bursting at the seams with folders of writing, tucked away in obscure places nobody will ever find when I die.  When I was 15 my best friend Marian’s mother saw me typing a nonsensical story, and asked to read it.  I blushed and hesitated, but she insisted, doubling up with laughter, and said "You must WRITE!"  Her obvious enjoyment meant a great deal to me, and discovering I could be funny was a revelation as I was a quiet, shy girl, something my friends find hard to believe today.   She continued to encourage me and I am grateful, thank you Daphne Krieger.

My husband is my greatest 'Raging Fan' and for years has been doggedly determined that I should write.  I thank him and our son for organising my blog, which they spent hours creating, an area which is not a 'core skill' for me.  (My friends are now rolling on the floor laughing).  His ongoing encouragement in what he calls my ‘gift’ is touching and a blessing.  Thank you Gerald.