It's late but I must share

I rang my daughter Annette (Nette) tonight.  She's off to Australia tomorrow to a conference with her hubbie and my grandson Cam.  Nette is so abuzz!!!  Since the article "Passion" was published she has had requests from other newspapers for a story followed by regular columns, a book writer wants to make a book of her columns (she's been writing them for nearly a year) and she's had more invitations to speak.  She's done some public speaking already and wants to make a career of speaking to businesses and groups so I am really happy to hear her so excited.   I can't wait to see them on their return home.  This disease (Chronic active hepatitis) will not win.... .Nothing beats Nette and never has. 

When she was diagnosed with this disease at 10 years old she was told to rest, half days at school, no sports etc etc.. Drs said she'd need a transplant before 16 years.  She made it to 19 and why, because she did everything the Specialist advised her not to do.  She didn't sit around feeling sorry for herself except when kids bullied her of course for her blown up appearance on steroids!! 

She got a job after school when she started high school - pushing a milk trolley around the streets - until she found one in a shop.  (a few years later she told me she had to sit in the gutter because she was so tired, but she wouldn't quit because then I'd tell her she couldn't work at all)Nette was in several roles in stage productions at school and local theatre including Sandy in Grease (never heard her sing since haha), in fact 14 shows before she had her transplant,

she passed 7 subjects in her fifth form qualifications. 
She has always lived to the fullest and never complains. 
Sure if she crashed she was in bed  for a week but she was back living life to the full again once she'd caught up on rest. 

Since the translant she's married, born a son, worked fulltime since 9 months after the transplant, helped on the farm, supported DH and DS at motorcross, worked as a Practice Manager and seen a firm through a merger and successfully reorganised their work loads and created a place where people wanted to work. She supported me through breast cancer surgery but sadly she picked up the novo virus from the hospital and ended up in one herself for 3 weeks.  Eeekk. Nette has no immunity on the antirejection drugs so even a cold will knock her back for a week longer than the rest of us.

But Nette lives a full and happy life with heaps of get up and go and if she's not feeling well, you'll never know.. she doesn't complain. It's just another ordinary day. In fact she hates people asking how she is.. because it reminds her she has an illness and she'd rather forget.

You know I've often said I wish it was me, not my daughter but maybe I wouldn't have coped as well.  Who knows why life gives us challenges and strife, it's not how much crap life throws us, it's what we do wth it that counts. 

Okay rave is over.  We all have wonderful kids but I wanted to share the wonderful news Nette has had about her career  My Aunt told me she takes after me.. I have been known to write articles for people but not ;for publications... So was my Dad a good writer.  And my other children Haylee and Ken write excellent articles too.  Even my grandson wrote a story last year at age 9 about Jan Molenaar who killed a policeman and shot two others whilst holing himself up in his home, then turned the gun on himself.  It They had to write a story about something in the news but Cam really got into the guys head.. it really gives everyone a shock.  But he does have an uncanny sense of knowing when somethings wrong and asking how you feel.  

Nette wrote "This is a story my son wrote last year - aged 9. I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that he wrote this in school. I asked him why he wrote it and he said "coz we had to". I asked him how he felt about it and he shrugged. I was somewhat concerned about what was going on in his wee head to be writing this. But sometimes as parents I think we freak out about our kids when we don't need to. They're more together than us really I guess - less experience = less issues, less fears. Childhood innocence - at it's best?"

.. Jan Mollenaar - by Cameron Kendall


I am Jan Mollenaar, the gunman from Chaucer Road, Napier. I like guns.


On May 7th I came home and there were policeman in my house. I saw a gun and I shot Len Snee because they were going through my stuff. At night I thought the police were coming to get me so I set booby traps. This way when they came in they got injured by the booby trap.


I didn't want to shoot them but I did. Bang! Bang! Bang! I didn't want to go out of my house because I didn't want to get arrested by the police. My mum will be so sad.


Days later I started to feel so thirsty, hungry and cold. Throughout the night it was so silent like a mouse. I was so scared that I sat in the middle of the house all night without going to sleep.


I am going to shoot myself. Goodbye.

You can read all of Annette's column's on Facebook - Annette Kendall Professional Speaker.

I promise tonight I'll post pictures of quilts again and get back to normal haha.