One Year On

It was a year ago today that I got the worst phone call of my life from my mum. My beautiful grandma, who I called Nanny, had passed away. She was 78 years old and had been battling serious heath problems for many years. She was the strongest woman I will ever know, whose body took a beating over the years, until it just couldn’t hold on any longer.

 Nanny has been the biggest influence in my life. She instilled in me the amazing power of positive thinking and telling the universe what you want. Through many-a-moment of uncertainty (moving from Townsville to Brisbane, being unemployed, murdering a car or two, becoming an expat) there are a few I always repeat to myself:

• I trust life.
• I trust my future to be positive.
• Let your faith be bigger than your fear.
• I love writing the script of my life.
• Every day is a new opportunity.

 Without this attitude towards life, I don’t think I would have made it through her passing or the following months, including the decision to leave everything behind and follow my heart to Canada. She was the one who told me to live my life to the full.

She was the one who gave out little cards to all her friends with the message: “There are only two ways to live your life: one is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle”. It was a miracle and a blessing to have been given you as my grandma.

From the day you left us I never passed a Jacaranda tree in Brisbane without thinking of you. Whenever I see a scarf or piece of clothing exploding in pinks and purples I think how much you would love it.

Not a single day passes Nanny when I don’t think about you, and miss you. I wish I could receive just one more handwritten letter from you. I wish I could send you a postcard or hear your voice again, but it wasn’t meant to be. I love you, and I wouldn’t be in Vancouver today without your positivity and fighting spirit living on inside me.

 I will never forget you and will do my best every day to make you proud.