Hi I’m Glenda -But who am I?

Who am I? Let’s start with who I was… a kid who grew up with a mother who was physically sick and a father with mental health issues. When I was old enough to start thinking about what I wanted to be when I grew up, I was already set on looking after my mum. I never considered anything else and had no dreams of being a nurse or firefighter.

Who am I? What do I want to do with my life? “Look after my mum.”

There was never any question in my 7-year-old mind that anything else would be an option. As I got a little older, it was my job to also care for my toddler siblings. Ensure my father did the necessary things to keep little ones alive and thriving.

The idea of caring never left

If you lived in a country town, cancer treatment was done in Perth with many long weeks of being away. Mum was not home for about two years, and Dad worked difficult hours, so we were living with other people. Sometimes all of us kids were together, but I was often separated from my brother and sister. I was left wondering what was happening with my family. This idea of caring never left me, but I did leave home and ended up wandering into marriage and kids. At about 29, I got that call. The one that involved me going home to look after my mother. With kids in tow, I moved cities back to my childhood home. My husband followed about nine months later when his military contract finished.

It was ten years of living with and caring for my mother. During this time, a lot happened, and there are many stories that I will get to. Caring for Mum was the only thing I had ever considered doing. I was 39 when she passed away in 2015, and I was left with no purpose, drive, or idea; I didn’t know who I was.

Things had to change

Having no answer to the question “Who am I?” I have spent the last two years shedding things. Not just physical, but commitments – my expectations and the framework through which I view the world. It has been a painful and confronting process, but exciting finding myself under the layers I have built up over the years. There is still much more discovery ahead, but I want to share the things I have learned in my journey. Perhaps the most important thing I have learned up till now is that we should recognise and embrace the humanity in each other. Accept people, encourage them, and slow down to help those willing to come on a journey.

I would love to affect and impact others in this time of keyboard warriors and criticism, where it is so easy to tear each other down. To share some of my thoughts. The stories I will share are my own experiences and memories, others may remember them differently, but that is ok. They will not be chronological; I will present them just as things stir me.