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At this moment in time I would describe myself as an intelligent, active, older woman.

Being a woman for the moment means no longer being menopausal, so hooray!! It also means that I have had the opportunity to be pregnant and nurse two babies.

I’m in Canberra while I wait for some housing matters to be settled, but then I’ll probably move across the border to Queanbeyan. I had to move with next to no notice from the family home due to asbestos. I’m one of those!

The best thing about being a woman in Canberra are the opportunities. I was able to get my education here—primary, secondary and tertiary. I was able to do some work in the areas I wanted to do it in, as well as some other work that I didn’t anticipate that I would do! You are able to achieve your goals, that’s probably the best thing.

The hardest thing is staying connected. It’s very easy to get isolated in Canberra. Sometimes I can feel invisible. I live alone, so I put a lot of effort into phoning people to minimise the isolation that I feel.

Maintaining my health and wellbeing in Canberra is easy and difficult. I have to access specialist services every six weeks to maintain my health and wellbeing. The services are regionally based and easy enough to get to on a bus. So that’s not too hard. But when money runs out, it’s not possible to purchase medications, or to eat a balanced healthy diet, or to board a bus. It is, however, possible to engage in creative writing and letter writing if I’m housebound!

My three favourite things are family, spending time with loved ones, and reading books on a range of topics.

My perfect day is pretty much like today. Sun shining, bit of a breeze and I’m with people I like.

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Image created by Josey Carnovale