Dear friends,

For a little less than two weeks I have had the indescribable joy of being with my family again. South Australia opened its borders to NSW, and I was on the first flight I could book and heading across to reunite with my children and parents. For a while I didn’t think I would let my children go when I embraced them. The longing in my heart was so deep and had hungered for so very many months. I can truly say I have savoured every moment in their presence in this time we have spent with them.

Dear friends, 

The past two weeks have drawn me to focus on a theme of resilience. I engaged in “extensive research” (a euphemism for “I Googled it!”) and learned that Psychology Today defines resilience as “that ineffable quality that allows some people to be knocked down by life and come back stronger than ever. Rather than letting failure overcome them and drain their resolve, they find a way to rise from the ashes.” The site goes on to summarise it like this: “In a nutshell, resilience can be defined as the ability — and tendency — to ‘bounce back.’”