Therese, 60
Half asleep, I couldn’t pick the aroma.
Like mothers everywhere, I could talk for too long about my two grown sons. Their attitudes, values and manners are a source of quiet delight, but how many get scones fresh out of the oven on Mother’s Day morning?
With the boys safely off my hands and making their independent way in the world, I’ll be buying breakfast from Brumby’s in Queens Parade again. This has left – not a void, but a space – in my stylish, inner-city, light-filled home. The daily pleasure I gain from my favourite artworks and pieces made or owned by dear family and friends just isn’t quite enough. They delight, but don’t challenge me, and I need to be told I’m wrong. Occasionally.
A passion for the built environment, with a focus on community and social justice drove a successful career; I was recently able to complete a satisfying merger of my business with two other, larger outfits. The fruits of my hard work mean I no longer have to work full time. Others now share the heavy lifting, leaving me energised and focused on the community-based projects I love so much.
Travel to exotic places, and a yearning for the outside world have seen me falling asleep through the best Northern Lights of the year, getting lost on the way up to Machu Picchu, crash landing a hot-air balloon in Myanmar and racing along the world’s highest zip line, twice. While there’s plenty more still to see and do, I’d far prefer it’s you who sets my heart racing.
What I’m looking for
I have room in my life for the man who’ll share all the ordinary things, yet be my extraordinary one. The one who’ll see the absurdity of life, yet hold that serious, thoughtful line when it’s needed. The one whose intellect, worldliness and compassion will carry me. And us.