Where I live, in Australia, I am surrounded by incredible harsh beauty which is dramatic and inspiring.  Flat, red earth and blue sky remind me that life begins with nothing and ends with nothing.  What happens in between is what we make of it and will depend on what we do with it.

Life is filled with choices and as human beings we have been given the right to these choices.  I choose to live my life as a rainbow after the storm, enjoying every colour as it merges with the next, savouring every adventure and using up every ounce of every opportunity. 

Some of you may have read about the four children who were taken from their mother’s arms over 55 years ago and placed in the Johannesburg Children’s Home in South Africa.  It was a tough story, probably easier for me to write than for you to read...because that was my life.   It has always been my life… and a part of who I am. 

Many people who have spent time in care, as orphans or wards of the state in this place will relate to that story, where inappropriate adult decisions were the direct causes of our dysfunctional childhood and upbringing and influenced who we were to become.  That was just the way it was!

To the Johannesburg Children’s Home, this refuge and place of safety, my little book is partly an acknowledgement of the

wonderful work you do and I take this opportunity to express my own personal gratitude to you, for caring for us. 

Because I was not able to do this when I was a child, I do it now.   I Thank you.

Johannesburg Children’s Home

Circa 1950’s