Brian:
Mom has never been a high flying corporate professional. She hasn't been in politics, but her legacy is her family because that is to her call.
Margaret:
Up until September last year, I used to speak to mom. Every day I would ring her and because she was so unwell, she couldn't cope with the phone either receiving or making a call anymore. So boom, that daily thing for me was cut off. I get emotional. I felt that terribly and I still do. Comes a time of day when I ring. Mum can't ring her. She doesn't want to talk
Brian:
In my life. I like everybody else. The people close to me have passed. Even recently, some close friends have passed. That has hit me more than it's probably hit me with my aunts and my own father passing because suddenly it makes mortality. Very, very real. Mom has never been a high flying corporate professional. She hasn't been in politics, but her legacy is her family because that is to her core.
Etta:
I, for myself, because I have faith in God and I believe a lot of people are afraid of death, death is to be celebrated. It's another journey. I always tell my family that. So celebrate them. This is another life of enjoyment. They've left a legacy. Remember the good things they've done or we've done together. Life for me is to be celebrated when somebody passed away.
Mark:
I've been in aged care for well over 25 years. One of the things I've learned is relationships are everything. I've never hurt anyone towards the end of their life complain like I've got such lovely relationship with my kids. I have heard people say they regret spending so much time away from home or at work. I've never ever heard anyone complain about investing time in people. I've seen many people that have passed away and have felt content with their lives and always it's because they have had strong relationships and in aged care it's no different. I think if you're going to enjoy your aged care experience, you have to maintain those relationships. Whether you form new relationships with people that you're living with, with your care staff, with the other residents around other family members from visitors, I think it's really important that you maintain that ability to engage with people. When Carol approached me about the garden and I realized that we were kindred spirits. I live in the southern shire myself and have quite a large garden, so it was actually quite lovely to hear that Carol had such an interesting in gardens. And to be quite honest, I often pick your brains on gardening matters.
If you look at it, I think fundamentally a garden is a metaphor of life where you plant something like a seed with the hope of something growing. You invest your time, you nurture it, and then you watch a bloom. And I think that is life that if you plant weeds, that's exactly where you're going to get, isn't it?
Carol:
That's the most beautiful part about it.
Grace:
I haven't even got it in there properly. Okay, just stare it in there. Look, I'll show you what to do. Okay? Okay,
Jenni:
Hold it. I've learned so much from grace. I've learned that we have so much in common. Okay. Is that coming along? Mum is better. Yeah, not too bad. It's made me not worry about things as much. It's made me kind of just let things go. Just let the day ride out. Don't worry about it moving on.
Grace:
Just keep doing that. Okay? Until I get this in here.
Jenni:
And to have fun and to love what you do, to love what you do and to be happy. Yeah, she's very inspiring
Grace:
You. Okay.
Jenni:
That's my job.
Mark:
Grace could have come in and we've drawn and had a very different life to what she has, but the fact that she's taken control of her situation and has chosen to be positive about the change, I think you have thrived.
Grace:
This will be the best banana cake you've ever
Sheridan:
Had. It would want to be. It's matter of work. You make me put in work. I know
Grace:
You really don't age in your mind. This is just, there's a young girl and they're still trying to get out and I can't get that through to all you people.
Speaker 9:
Don't wait
Speaker 10:
For
Sheridan:
Our time on this Earth is really about what we give to everybody else, and what you give is what you get back. So if you want to be happy as you've stated, then you have to be happy. You have to be and live the life that you want to live to the best of your ability, but also encourage other people to do the same. If we can all sort of just try and help each other reach our own potential, whatever that might be, everything would just get easier. I think for everyone. For me, just my happiness is very dependent on my own sense of self, but also the people I care about and their happiness on my children and my mother and that bit. If they're not happy, I'm not happy.
Mark:
I think if you are positive and you see the sunny side up and it's not always easy, but if you maintain that disposition that life is generally good, I think it makes a world of difference at any stage of your life, whether it be when you're young or when you're older, when you're being faced with challenges of physical limitations, if you maintain a positive outlook in life, I think you'll be okay.
Etta:
You have to be truthful in what you do, be honest and really love what you're doing.
Jenni:
Love family, patience. Enjoy it.
Grace:
Life is what you make of it. You've got to put a lot in if you want to get a lot out. So be prepared to make the most of it.
Margaret:
Be true to yourself was the very first thing that came into my mind. I think that is very important.
Jenni:
Just open your heart to other people. Let them in. Be positive.
Etta:
Just get on with it if you think you want to do it. And with me, if it didn't get done, I got in and did it. Just get in and do it. Have a go at it.
Margaret:
And to have self-love. I don't mean that in a narcissistic way because if we don't have self-love, we cannot love out there.
Grace:
Being at peace with who you are,
Mark:
A bit of planning goes a long way. We've never a person that failed who had a bit of a plan.
Grace:
There's a lot of good people out there and there's a lot to be grateful for, and I'm very grateful.
Brian:
Be true to yourself. Treat people with kindness. Make the most of every day and make sure you have to love in.
Jenni:
If you can be anything in this world,
Margaret:
That's
Jenni:
The most.
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