Reflection

June 25, 2008 ·  

I don’t tend to analyse my own life too much. Whatever will be, will be. I try to plan ahead, but mostly take things as they come.

On reflection though, the last six months have probably been the toughest I’ve experienced.

The news of Dad’s terminal cancer just under a year ago knocked me around.

At work, we had significant staff turnover at the end of 2007 and a new production system was introduced. That system was not properly supported with bandwidth and we experienced significant stresses to manage the transition and meet deadline.

Juliet and I had booked and paid for a January holiday at Mandurah several months in advance. We planned to stay in the same holiday house we had visited the year before.

Dad suffered a bad turn early in the month and we questioned whether we should go to the west coast or drive to Victoria to see him. It was a difficult decision to stick with the holiday, but it turned out to be correct. Heading 3000km east would have placed a huge strain on our family.

From February onwards I had to break in new staff at work while dealing with Dad’s illness.

I also decided there were no career prospects for me in Western Australia in newspapers and it was better to head east. I applied for a position with The Border Watch and had a successful interview.

Juliet and I agreed that if we were to return to South Australia we should buy a house. I inspected a property in Mount Gambier and made an offer.

Running in the background, of course, were my regular work and family commitments.

Ultimately, I resigned from the Kalgoorlie Miner and was originally scheduled to finish there on June 19. Dad’s condition deteriorated and the Miner allowed me to leave earlier.

We managed to see Dad for a few days while he was still in good spirits.

I then started my job in Mount Gambier while Juliet managed the unpacking as we settled into a new house.

We had almost finished unpacking and I had just established a routine at my job when Dad passed away. I made a 1200km return trip with Kathleen and Michael over four days to attend the funeral.

Now I’m back at our new home in Mount Gambier.

Some experts say the most stressful things in life are losing a loved one, moving house and changing jobs. I’ve just had the trifecta.

I feel okay though. It wasn’t a sudden impact and nor was it prolonged. The change of address was fairly well managed.

Still, I’m glad it’s all behind me. I look forward now to staying long term at a new job in our new town.

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Comments

One Response to “Reflection”

  1. delmer on June 26th, 2008 4:08 am

    >>Some experts say the most stressful things in life are losing a loved one, moving house and changing jobs.<<

    I was just going to mention this. It appears we read the same experts.

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