But there was one snag.
A young fellow dropped by
from a nearby station and he
was different from anyone
else I had met. Rob was a real
gentleman – caring, kind,
and not judgmental. Three
weeks later he asked me to
marry him. Nine months
later, in 1986, we got married.
Twelve months later, our
wonderful daughter Kerri-ann was born, and
eleven months later we had our wonderful
son Ashley. My world was complete.
Rob had taken over running Gilberton
Station from his father, but it was still a
virgin block on the Gilbert River, even
though it had been in the family for many
generations. Rob had big plans, fences and
cattle yards to build, and much more. So
we drew up a 25-year plan. Within a few
years this blew out to a 50-year plan. There
was a lot of work to be done but we felt as
long as we had each other and the kids we
could do it. Things cruised along until 1991
when I had a health scare with cervical
cancer, and felt everything was slipping
away before my eyes.
No bastard was going to rip anything
away from me when I had just got it all,
so fight it I did. During treatment and
against all the odds, I fell pregnant and
another wonderful daughter , Anna, was
born in 1992.
Just as I was getting over the cancer
treatment, and managing a new baby,
another willy-willy wind storm arrived.
Kerri-ann and Ashley needed to start
school. Having no other choice but to do
school of the air, I was about to start a
whole new journey, one I was shit-scared
about, but I felt more than ready to give my
kids the best I could.
"Run when you can
Walk if you have to
Crawl if you must
Just never give up
no mat ter what ."
18
How was I going to do it? I had no
bloody idea. What was I thinking? I could
hardly read or write, let alone teach
my kids. But teach them I did, with a
few wonderful helpers along the way. A
volunteer group called VISE (Volunteers
for Isolated Students Education) entered
my life and god help them, I am sure if it
wasn’t for them and the help I received, I
wouldn’t be here today. I would have ended
up in a looney bin. We learnt together
in the school room, the paddock and
anywhere else in between. Through tears,
fights and laughter we did it together.
Even before their school years had finished,
the kids set up their own contract mustering
business working on local stations. They were
greatly respected for their capability from an
early age, and still are today.
After school life finished and the school
room doors closed in 2004 I was a free
woman, or so I thought. In 2005 our nephew
Tom, who was 14 at the time, came to live
with us. He was getting into terrible trouble,
and others couldn’t care for him. He also
had a severe hearing problem. We took him
on and the school room doors opened once
again, much to my horror. Tom stayed with
us for 18 months before finishing school and
entering the work force.
Along the way I very proudly managed
to complete a post graduate diploma in 2011.
H O N E S T LY W O M A N M A G A Z I N E - S U B S C R I B E N O W