Carole's Birthday

Yesterday was mum's birthday and the old war horse was around to share it - something none of us expected when we got the news a few weeks ago. If we'd accepted the first prognosis, Dad may not have been around to celebrate it. Which leads me to this entry - my family has always been passionate, always been the first to speak up if we don't agree with something. A lot of people believe we kids (as Dad insists on calling us to this day) inherited this trait from Dad... and we did. But those who know this family well enough will know that whilst Dad can glow brighter than the Chrystler Building, Mum is the engine room.

Mum is a generous, thoughtful, inquistive, deeply caring person who tempers the Gibbs flare with her ability to see how other people are feeling. She has dropped everything and jumped on a plane to come to our aid at a moment's notice. She is proud of all of our achievements but finds no need to sprout on about her children - which I think is a sign of the security she feels about her family. We (Nath, Ashleigh and myself) have all learned much from her. Everytime I call, she makes it a point of asking about my life and interests - when I know her attention is focused on Dad.

She is under so much pressure at the moment that I don't know how she can bear it - but she does. She might drive Dad mad with her concern but I strongly believe that persistance has got him through all the ailments that have plagued him in the past few years. She has incredible inner strength and I only hope that I have some of it racing around in my veins too. Happy Birthday Mum.

Keep the comments coming

As you have probably guessed, Dad is loving the blog. I have attempted to curb his eagerness to scribe by advocating brevity over girth but to no avail. The man loves to write. Better him tapping away on the computer keys than in the kitchen diving into all the bikkies and cakes that seem to be turning up on a daily basis.

Dad gets particularly excited when someone adds a comment to the blog. Please be aware, I've changed the authorisations for these comments so there may be a delay between when you enter the comment and when it appears on the site. I have changed this process so strangers can't log on and comment on what a spunk Cazzy is - who can really blame them!

Had a lovely text message from Mark Constable (ex WAAPA) sending his best to Dad as does Andrew Wholley and Steve Shanahan. I also got a really nice message from Alex Jones. Blog on, Dad. XXX