Co-Facilitator of The Joy of Grandparenting
Before I was a grandparent, I was first and foremost a Mother to three glorious children My life was re-shaped and honed when my husband was killed in a plane crash and left me with 13 month old Jo and 2 week old Neil. My third child Tania was born six years later when I remarried.
In those early years of being a single Mum I was always affronted when people would say to me: "At least you have the children to comfort you". Raising them through those first few dark years was a huge, life zapping effort and I agonised if I would ever reach a stage when I did not feel totally exhausted and simply have the luxury of loving them without feeling it was a battle of survival...
Experience has shown me that grief can "make you or take you". My Aunt, who was widowed when she was 40, said: "You have two choices here, you can either survive or go under” and somehow I decided that ‘going under’ was not an option and gradually came to accept my loss. As I let go of the pain I started to grow spiritually and instead of a burden of unbearable sadness I was blest with an innate sensitive understanding of others.
My journey of personal growth has taken me down exciting paths through the years from starting my own company to provide work and counselling for those in the food industry and last year having my first book published, a ‘how-to’ book on public speaking and presentation, titled Finding Your Voice. The core message of the book was to encourage people speak from their heart. It gave me impetus to pursue even more spiritual avenues and I was drawn to the Invitation to Awaken course where I learned to acknowledge my natural gift of intuition.
For me my intuition is most accessible where there is a need to be compassionate and when Wendy approached me to do a course with her on intuitive grandparenting it was just perfect. I love the luxury of being a grandparent and I love helping people reach their full potential.
I only had one grandparent as I grew up. He was a gruff of a man and definitely uneasy with the grandfather role. My Father was away in the war and so he was ever-present in my early childhood and as such made a negative impact on my life for many years to come as I sought to please him without success.
I believe passionately that grandparents play a vital role in children’s lives as I know that you do too. As grandparents we get the most amazing opportunity to give our grandchildren emotional security and a belief that they can "fly to the moon" if they want to. We can offer them true understanding, imagination and attention. Combine this with intuition and you are joyfully connected to your spirit and theirs. I look forward to working with you on this great adventure.
Image courtesy of Cuyamaca.
