She went to the doctor with

a sore tummy,

She came home with

a death sentence.

Liver cancer. Swift. Painful.

We returned to Tassie so she could be

with her sister and her mum.

They nursed her.

I looked after our little boy.

That’s a huge oversimplification,

but also basically accurate.

My eldest boy, now grown to man, stayed in Adelaide with his mum to finish college.

My heart broke to leave him,

and I miss him every day.

It’s all so unfair, for everyone,

but especially the boys.

Doctors gave her a year,

she lived two more.

And then…

COVID!!!!

And my heart broke again,

for the Death of

What We Could’ve Been.

Now, suddenly, it is 2025

and my boys are

growing up strangers.

COVID, unemployment, poverty,

trauma and ill health,

the rental housing market,

inflation, and Bass Straight itself

conspire to make

the task impossible,

the distance unconquerable.

I am so weary, so sad and stressed and old. I can never quite amass sufficient capital to make it across the ditch to the Big Island.

My mental health is in tatters, my 55 year old body begins to betray itself, I cry every day, grasping at Hope as it slips away.

So I turn to you for help,

if you so should choose,

to help me and my youngest son

take, ostensibly, a working (and

educational) trip to Adelaide,

as well as a scouting mission to,

perhaps, prepare ground for

a more permanent move,

but mostly, and primarily,

I would ask your help to

reunite this father and his sons.

thank you so much for your time.

If you choose to donate, that is truly awesome and I thank you, but you might also wish to consider purchasing one of my hand crafted staffs - from Walking to Wizard!

A very niche (nerdy?) market, I realise, but each piece is unique, locally sourced and sustainably harvested. You never know, you may awaken the geek within!

You’ll notice I’ve left out names, because there is a minor involved, but I am more than happy to talk and share face to face if you want to know more.

Thank you again,

p