I think I’ve lived in 34 different places and been to over 10 different schools. It has been difficult for me to maintain friendships because I was always moving. I was in a mindset that I’m going to lose them all so why bother making friends.

But having to move so much has made me a stronger person and I think I’m more accepting. I just let things happen, I don’t fight it. I don’t kick up about stuff because at the end of the day it doesn’t do you any good and it doesn’t get you anywhere.

I live on a farm now in the country one hour away from work. That’s how I wind down.

This is a stressful job, so by the time I get home, I make my coffee, and sit on the deck and look at nothing but the birds, the trees… it’s so peaceful.

I’m quite settled now and I have made quite a few friends. I like the close knit community I have in Yellingbo (in the Yarra Valley) and I have become a CFA volunteer. I feel like I’ve put down roots here.

I lived in Greece for 35 years. I was born there, I was married there and I had kids there. After the economic crisis hit Greece, I saw things weren’t going well. We were worried our jobs would go. Already the company that I worked for was laying people off.

My husband and I had discussed going to Australia for a short while, maybe three years at first to see if the country would suit us and our family. If it didn’t, we were ready to move back.

Thank god, everything went well.

We arrived and things were quite easy for us. My brother was living here already, and I had a very good friend that helped me immensely. It’s not just work pressures that are the biggest hurdle to overcome in a new country, it’s the emotional pressures that you don’t expect.

Because we were by ourselves, had left our family and our security in Greece, it was hard adjusting. We missed the everyday routine and familiarity of Greece – the ease with which we were able to see our family, our friends, our colleagues. And life in Greece is different.

But I’m happy and healthy here now. Nothing is missing, except for my friends and family in Greece. But we visit as often as we can.

The saddest moment of my life was when my sister died. I didn’t realise how much that would impact me.

She was brilliant, she was studying two degrees at the same time, she was running an executive position.

She felt a lump in her breast and didn’t do anything about it.

It wasn’t until her and her husband decided to go to China that she said, “Oh I’ve got this pain in my back”.

Not long after she returned, she couldn’t even stand up. She went to see the doctor, who said “oh we’ll take you to get some x-rays etc”. But she turned to her husband and said, “should I also tell the doctor about this lump?”.

The doctor turned to her and said, “I know exactly what you have”.

It was late stage breast cancer.

She battled it, she battled hard. She pushed it back amazingly, for two or three years. She was very much a fighter, and it was that which got to me.

When she told me, I just sat back, saying, why didn’t you go and see the doctor when you felt the lump?

She said “I was stupid, I just thought I could will it away”.

It rocked me because it was unnecessary. We’d always promise we would grow old together. And she’s gone.

The beginning was not too good. You don’t have family, you don’t have anyone, I was not speaking English. I only knew one word, “yes”.

Even if people said something bad to me, I would say “yes”.

At the time, the immigration department would provide young people to come to your house to teach you English. She was a young mum, I’ll never forget, she had an eight-month old baby, and was teaching English. It was a big help.

My neighbour always read the paper, and he would put it in the rubbish, and I saw it and had a look.

I started to read, trying to exercise myself a bit. I loved the cartoons in the paper, and I learned a lot, more than someone teaching me actually.

By the picture and the words, I used my dictionary to try and understand it.

I would put it all together and they were very funny.

I learned English almost by myself.

I say I don’t have good English but good enough.

If I could give my younger self advice I would say:

Leave behind whatever makes you unhappy, without a second thought.

Years are passing us by so quickly that you shouldn’t busy yourself with unpleasant situations.

Follow your dreams and trust yourself!

Make sure to love the career you choose, as this is your future and also a happiness factor.

Travel as much as you can and as far as your finances allow!

Go out, have fun, dance as if there is no tomorrow and smile! These moments of carelessness will be a long distant dream.

Believe in yourself! Only then you are able to achieve everything. Self –esteem does not mean  that you are selfish… or arrogant

Having a relationship that does not make you a better person, is the wrong relationship. Leave it as soon as you can.

Sleep, take a rest and pamper yourself as much as you can and as many hours as your schedule allows you.

Learn to forgive, so that you can dispose negative feelings that hold you in the past and prevent you from seeing the future in a positive way.
Keep close to your heart those people who appreciate you even for the minimum you are doing for them. People who are acting with their heart and not to have personal gains. People that love you for what you are and not for what they wish you’d rather be r could have become!

Love and accept yourself with all its flaws and do not let anyone offend or belittle you!

We are all different, but equal.

Being vulnerable and sensitive, sometimes it is your right.

Happiness can be found in small instances that ought to be treated as big!

Life is short, and we are merely just passengers! So let’s live and enjoy it to its fullest.

I lived in the country, then moved to Melbourne in my early 20s, but then my father got sick with cancer. I was the only one of my siblings at the time that wasn’t married, so I went back to look after my father.

I looked after him for about two years, and I was in the process of coming back to Melbourne when my mother suffered a heart attack. So I stayed for another 10 years.

My life was on pause during that time. I mean, I had my freedom but I was still restricted because I had to be a carer. I took the role on but I didn’t realise it was going to take that long. But, I don’t regret it one bit.

My mum was a very forthright, open person and was very loved by the community. She had a hard life. They came in the early 50s, went up to the country, and back then in Moe, there were no Greek people, nothing Greek. She didn’t speak English and she raised six children in the country.

I came back to Melbourne in my late 30s. It’s a different life, now that I’m married, although I now find myself looking after my mother-in law. But I think my younger life prepared me for this life – to look after the elderly here at Fronditha Care.

Care means helping someone who needs the help. And you feel good by doing it, because it’s like looking after your mother and father.

I listen. That’s all I do. I empathise with people. I’ve always been that way. I’ve always been about listening rather than speaking. I’m more of an introvert.

You have to see their point of view. People won’t complain for no reason.

Sometimes it’s easier to help others than to look after yourself. You get something out of helping someone, or looking after someone.

I am a very hopeful person. There’s always a way out, there’s always a solution, there’s never a dead end.

What I see a lot in the workforce is the constant “who do we blame?” We all make mistakes – that constant trying to shift blame to others.

Just apologise.

We’re human after all. People respect that.

My husband was diagnosed with a brain tumour. That came right out of left field. He woke up one morning and
he had no feeling on the right side of his face. We dropped everything, took him straight to the doctors and within
days we were consulting neurosurgeons.

The tumour that they removed was thankfully benign but it had grown to the size of a small orange.
The numbness was because his brain became constricted to half its space to allow room for this growing tumour.

It took a while for his brain to naturally expand back into its natural space. He had big problems with balance and
motion.

When something like that happens, it really does force you to reassess the priorities in your life. You have to balance;
balance being there for your husband, balancing work, balancing a young family.

I learned putting certain other things to the side for a period of time doesn’t mean that you care about them
less or that you’re turning your back on them. It quite simply means it’s not a priority at that point.

Watching my husband go through his recovery had quite a significant impact.

There were times were I wasn’t coping. What helped was exercise. I picked up running for the first time in my life, I
rode my bike more, I swam more. I’ve even done triathlons.

I found the physicality of letting go of the nerves and focusing on a goal really helped me a lot.

My husband was able to go back to work some years later, but on a part time basis. There’s been a much bigger
balance in our lives – we share the home duties now.

We’ve become stronger for each other. There are some long term effects, but thankfully they are not serious.

Little things like he doesn’t have a sense of smell or taste anymore, he has chronic sinus problems, and physically
he isn’t quite the same. But we are grateful for the opportunity to grow as human beings through this.

I used to be a sales manager for Royal Caribbean Cruises and Delta Airlines. Totally different to nursing. But when I came to Australia with my husband, a friend actually said, I think you’d be good at nursing. I tried it, and loved it and I’ve been with it for 10 years now.

I think it was the care that was being provided that convinced me. My parents live in India, and I’m here and I thought nursing was some form of doing something, giving care.

Somewhere, someone might be able to care for my parents because I can’t do it directly, so I contribute here.

Aged care homes were a very new concept for me. It opened my eyes, and it has taken a long time for the same concept to be adapted in India.

My mother was a woman who, from a teenager, was all about a cause and giving to the community. 

She was so smart, much cleverer than me. She found her passion to be the care of the elderly.

She demonstrated to me that if you have a passion for something you can achieve wonderful things, and for mum it was Fronditha Care.

She lived and breathed everything Fronditha Care.

I remember when she first became a resident of Fronditha Care’s Clayton residential care facility as a result of dementia, she used to go around the facility and speak with all the other residents with such love and care even though she wasn’t well herself.  Even through those difficult times for her, her passion continued.

Care, to me is about thinking of others, making sure they are safe and well looked after.  You can show care in so many ways, by physically helping others, by a kind word, by listening to someone and most importantly being there for those that may need you.

For me, it’s such a privilege to be able to give to a community that meant so much to my mother, and was really part of my life and my children’s when they were young for so many years.  I think so many of us are privileged in our lives and when we can, we want to give back in a meaningful way.

Also, our roots are very strong, and even though I haven’t had a lot to do with the Greek community over the years the pull to give back and connect to my heritage is something that I have felt strongly about.

I got married because I thought I’d have my freedom. When I was 19, I wasn’t allowed to go out. Nine o’clock I had to be home. I didn’t have my freedom.

I didn’t have anyone to tell me “be tough, be your own independent person”, so I had no self-esteem.

When I got married (at 19), my husband was able to mould me exactly how he wanted to.

I wasn’t allowed to speak, I wasn’t allowed to work. I didn’t have opinions. I was never allowed to complain. But inside I was screaming.

I had to ask my husband if I could take the kids to the park. That’s how low my self-esteem was.

My son turned around to me and said, “Mum, why do you have to call Dad to ask if you can take us to the park?”.

That’s when I thought, you know what? That’s not normal.

His outbursts were for five minutes, but those five minutes were poison.

It was really scary. A friend had told me to go on the internet (to find advice) and I think that’s where I found my courage.

I went to the police.

During divorce proceedings, I used to see him driving behind me in different cars every day. Those two years were hell for me, so when he got remarried, I was the happiest person in the world.

But, my experiences have made me a better mother. I have given my children the freedoms I never had.

The happiest moment of my life would have to be when it all started, I married my wonderful husband Gary at St Johns Anglican Church on a very rainy day 41 years ago.

It was my 19^th birthday and the rain didn’t bother me at all. They say if it rains on your wedding day you will have a happy and long marriage (I think that’s said so the bride won’t cry) however there must be some truth to it. I am still married and feeling very blessed to have such a close knit and wonderful family.

More happy moments were the birth of our three beautiful children.  Eldest is Louise who has a wonderful husband and three beautiful boys. Second born is Gerrard, also married and has a beautiful wife with one handsome boy. Third born is Benjamin, married to a gorgeous girl with two wonderful boys. All six grandsons born were very special and are happy moments for me.

Now, the happiest moments would have to be when our family is all together for celebrations, BBQ’s – any excuse really.

Every morning I wake up and feel so grateful for my life and what I have, I would never take it for granted. I love my husband, I love my family and I love my job.

A fortune teller once told me “you will never win any money in the lottery or lotto” but I feel so rich with love and happiness that money can’t buy.

I just lost my mum two weeks ago.

She was here, in the nursing home. Every time I open the door I think I’m going to find her there. She was 94, so I know she had a full life but she’s still my mum. It doesn’t make it any easier. It just makes me sad.

She was in the nursing home and I worked in the memory support unit. Everytime I’d walk through the nursing home, she’d grab my hand and talk to me. Recently, she wasn’t able to verbalise much, so we were just talking with hands.

I got used to seeing her there. On my birthday, she decided to go.

Last week, they put a lovely lady in her room. She noticed that I wasn’t going to see her much. I said, yes, you’re right, I’ll come more often. I didn’t want to tell her about my mum. The other day, I peeked inside to see if I could feel something, and there was nothing.

I’ve got to get used to the fact she’s not here anymore.

I’ve been so lucky to have so many amazing women in my life – all have influenced me in different ways.

I only met my grandmothers briefly on trips back to Greece. They were refugees and orphaned as children and showed me what it means to be resilient, bold and courageous.

My mother instilled in me what it means to be compassionate and have an open loving heart. Unfortunately, I lost her to cancer when I was just 29 years old.  I lost my aunt a few years later, but I always remember her teaching me how to treasure the joy in life. I think the heartbreak of loss of a loved one, someone who is incredibly significant in your life, is something you learn to live with but never really get over.

Going through life, I’ve become very passionate about social change and giving voice to the most vulnerable people in the community.  I’m an ardent proponent of human rights and gender equity and feel, in so far as I’m able to, it’s a duty to help people change their lives for the better. It’s actually a privilege to do good.

Women need to support other women. We can only be brave if others believe in us, and encourage our passions and intellect. Become a mentor. It’s a wonderful way to contribute and pass on your wisdom.