It was an amazing experience to spend that much time with a family and be involved in their everyday life. I remember feeding the squirrels and cardinals (red birds). It was great being able to have ice cream or access a supermarket 24 hours a day if you needed! These are all the things you get to experience that I did not in Australia. To leave Australia and go over to the other side of the world where I absolutely knew no one was huge. It was a wonderful experience. I got involved with Scouting too. At that time there was hardly any females in Scouts which made it trickier. Scouting was my outing. The family I was living with and some of the other friends I was involved with were also scouts, so it was always a good weekend to get out. I completed their scout training which was interesting. It was very different compared to ours as it had a focus on the American Indians and learning how to keep your food safe and away from bears. I was one of the youngest people at the time to lead the training. It was huge. I was there just over a year. I survived the summer, the cold winters. Some of the people I am still in contact with now. Every time I have travelled, I go via Washington DC and for me it is just like going back home. I grew up more in the year I was in Washington DC because I could not rely on my family. You had to learn things quickly. I could not ring Mum and ask “Hey, what do I do when this happens?” I drove over there I still wonder how, but I needed to get out and about and explore. It was funny when Mum met David, I didn't know anything about it. She said she was moving to Lower Eyre Peninsula to a place called Yeelanna. Yeelanna was not even on a map! It was even more of a shock flying over in Eyre Commuter with Barry Firth- you had to swoop down to get rid of the sheep on the dirt runway in the middle of a paddock before you could land. It took a while to get used to it as it was a big change! When I left America, I came home. I had never lived in a small town and Yeelanna is tiny! It took a while to get used to it. I tried to get involved in things but being a city girl was difficult. I went overseas again! I had worked hard and saved up a whole lot of money and spent the next year and a half in the UK as a nanny. That was fabulous as Europe was so close and I could travel and do what I wanted to do over there. I was mainly in Marlow Buckinghamshire. I enjoyed being involved with Scouts in the UK and joined their venturer unit. We would go camping in Cornwall and we would travel all around. It was a great outlet, and I enjoyed meeting other people.

During this time, I lost both my Grandparents in a car accident on Tumby Bay Road. I flew home quickly for two weeks. It was a huge time as not only had I lost both my Grandparents, but Mum also had a 50th Birthday and there was my cousin's wedding! I had come from summer to winter, and I remember being sick the whole time. My Grandparents were originally from the UK. It was extra special when I went back to be shown by my Mum’s Godmother where they lived and were married and where Mum went to school. I enjoyed meeting up with members of my family and was able to compare some of our families black and white photos to now. On the way home from the UK, I attended an international rover scout camp in Kandersteg, Switzerland with my brother which was awesome. We were with 342 Australians in the middle of Switzerland. It was special to meet up with people I had before. When I came back from Switzerland, I ended up in Yeelanna again. While I lived in Washington DC my parents came to visit. At this time rubber stamping was a big thing and my Mum arrived home with a heap of rubber stamps, and she started a business; Annaleey Crafts selling rubber stamps and accessories. We ran this for about 15 years. We had our own artists that would design rubber stamps and order from the USA, and we were the largest mail order business within Australia! We had customers from all around the world. At one stage there were 3 of us working. I loved it – filling orders, running classes, going to Adelaide for craft fairs and chatting to all sorts of people.

My love of travel took me to Europe where I did a Contiki tour and visited 12 countries in 35 days in 1994. This was an amazing experience and still holds many special memories. I have also travelled to Muroto in Japan for a 10-day exchange in 2000. Another fabulous experience was that I stayed with a family that lived in a traditional house. Soon after I went to Japan I then headed off on another trip to and Papua New Guinea with the Anglican Church for an Anglican Youth Gathering in Popondetta for a week. Popondetta is on the Northern PNG coast and close to the start of the Kokoda trail. There were 30 of us Australian’s that attended the Youth Gathering. During the second week we were there, we were split into smaller groups and experienced life in a village and sleeping in grass huts, washing in the creeks, and working with the families we were staying with. The second part of the trip 9 of us travelled to Kuala Lumpur and Cambodia to visit the area that the Anglican Church worked with and to see the projects they supported. I worked in Kiddiwinks for a couple of years before I had Marcus and worked as a carer up in Cummins. I cared for Barry Polkinghorne for about a year. Caring for and looking after other people has always been one of my roles. You expect your kids to go to school and you go to work, and you do everything, and it did not end up that way.

Marcus is my oldest and is now home schooled. Marcus has always had little tics that we just put down to nervousness, so we didn't take much notice. In 2019 he said his back was a bit twitchy and had full motor tics for 8 weeks. He couldn't eat or drink properly, his arms were moving, and his head was moving nonstop. He was literally biting all down his arms and slapping himself in his face. We really did not know what to do. As quick as it came on it disappeared. We thought great it was over, we’ve got through that. Exactly a year later- the same thing happened; his back was a bit sore, twitchy and he said it was like electricity whizzing through his body. The next morning, he had full motor tics and vocal tics. Which makes life difficult as he has (coprolalia), the swearing tick. Which not everyone has. Everyone thinks that Tourette's is the swearing tick but it's not.

To be diagnosed with Tourette's you need to wait a certain period and have 2 sorts of tics. Once Marcus was diagnosed it made life a little bit easier but a lot harder at school. Having to deal with a child with Tourette's was a steep learning curve. A tick attack could last for 4 hours where he struggled for breath, couldn't communicate and his body moved nonstop. I am glad I knew a bit about Tourette's as otherwise I don't think I would have coped. We have attended several Tourette's camps and to see Marcus free to be himself and Tic freely is amazing to see. Educating the community was important to understand what was happening for Marcus, and if he said something inappropriate, it was not him saying it.

Last year Marcus started eating less and less and was diagnosed with Anorexia. We were in hospital for over 3 weeks after he was flown to Adelaide by Royal Flying Doctors because his kidneys started to shut down. With an eating disorder your child must re learn how to eat again. What they have to go through is really difficult for a parent to handle. Because Marcus had lost so much weight he was not allowed to walk anywhere or do anything. He had to strictly eat three meals and three snacks a day within half an hour. If this was not met, they would get a meal replacement which made the kids feel sick.

I don't know how I would have got through without Ronald McDonald house. I stayed there, it was nice and close, I had my own room, bed, showers, and you didn't have to worry about food as they would be cooking all the time. The highlight was meeting the other parents, and you all have that connection as you are all going through something different. I liked being able to get out. I spent a lot of time wandering around the parklands. I have been his full-time career and with him all the time. I really struggled as I was doing everything myself. Marcus is doing well, and we have enough support between here and Adelaide. He has now been diagnosed with autism and ADHD which means I can now get some support and time off.

It was a hard time when my marriage was ending and dealing with Marcus. It was difficult as I did not know what was happening, where I was going and feeling like I had to try to hold my family together. When you have a child with additional special needs it's really difficult to find someone to talk to, especially in the country. The hardest thing was to find the support that we all needed. Now with our community doing so much with mental health you don't feel so ashamed of being able to reach out and help. Dr Leanne Schroeder has been fabulous in our journey. She has been so supportive and still sees us regularly. Really important even if you are struggling is to reach out and ask for help. I find to ring people and check up and have people ring me and just ask are you going ok just makes all the difference.

The other kids are very understanding and supportive, every day is very different! Miranda has just started driving, it's a bit scary but she is really good. Miranda is in year 11 this year and is my peacekeeper at home and I am super proud of who she is becoming. Ronan is in year 7 and gets out and hangs out with friends every now and then. They still see their Dad once or twice a week and every other weekend. They have a good relationship with their Dad and go back and forward and work well.

I still enjoy being involved with the Zonta club of Lower Eyre. I have enjoyed travelling with this and taking on various positions. It's the people you meet. It's so good to be able to make a difference in women's lives. A lot of women I would not have met if it were not for Zonta.

We have a little Pomeranian called Tikki and she is amazing, and she can notice Marcus's moods. She knows when he is dipping or something is happening with how he feels and will literally attack him behind his heels. She is very protective of us all but will pick up on moods before I do, so it comes in handy.

If it weren't for Mum & Dad here and my family in Canberra and WA, I do not know what I would do. Mum is incredibly supportive and helps out where she can with the kids and is my rock.

For the future, getting kids to finish school would be good. I would still like to travel, especially to take the kids over to America to see where I was. There has been a lot going on in the last few years, so it has been more difficult to look to the future, but it's looking bright now.

I've always been a quiet and reserved person and with everything I've been through I have actually realised how strong I am as a person. There's things that you go through as a child that you struggle with and deal with but then once you're an adult you realise how strong you actually are. I can now stand up for myself and my family to get things done. In life just take things as they come. Grasp anything that is in your way. Be yourself as much as you can if people don't get along with you then that's just too bad.