In March it was 17 years since my mother died of breast cancer at the very young age of 49. I still miss her. I wonder what she'd think of the decisions I've made in my life, I miss talking to her and asking her thoughts/opinion, I often have memories about the past that I'd like to ask her about and I really really wish she could have met Jules, Tess and Tom.
I have never done anything to mark Mum's passing and 2014 is the year that's going to change! In May I will be participating in the Shitbox Rally (or SBox as we call it in our house for the sake of the children!), with my very good friend Leanne. It's a rally rather than a race and we're driving a car, worth no more than $1,000 hence the name "Shitbox", from Perth to Darwin in 7 days. That's a distance of 3,700 kms on dusty dirty roads with a couple of river crossings thrown in for good measure. And we are camping each night so no chance of a hot shower and a comfy bed!
So what would Mum think of that???!!! Looking back on her life she was incredibly courageous and had lots of amazing experiences including escaping her communist country at the age of 18 as the Russian tanks rolled into Prague, travelling hippy style around Europe sleeping on beaches and eating fresh octopus caught by her own hands, meeting my father by "accidentally on purpose" dropping her post cards in the post office on the Champs Elysee in Paris, moving half way round the world with my dad to Africa (where I was born), Malaysia and Singapore (where my brother was born) and embracing a career change in her forties to follow her passion in textile conservation. In comparison my life has been rather ordinary and this is my chance to show that I have some of her courage (and craziness?!).
The Shitbox Rally raises money for the NSW Cancer Council. This money is used to fund cancer research, cancer prevention and patient support and as my co-pilot, Leanne, has spent time working at the Cancer Council I know that the money is spent wisely and has already made a huge difference to many peoples lives. I have very strong memories of the amazing job the Macmillan Nurses did providing care for my mum in our family home and I understand the importance of patient support to families coping with this dreadful illness. I live in fear of the dreaded "C" word which is the leading cause of death in Australia. However, due to the excellent work done by organisations like the Cancer Council the survival rate of common cancers (of which breast cancer is obviously one) has increased by 30% over the past 2 decades. It needs to increase more.......................
Leanne and I decided upon "The Daisy Bushells" as our team name for the following reasons. Soon after Jules and I started going out we went on a sailing holiday around the Greek Islands with his parents. I frequently wore a daisy-print bikini and hence my nickname of Daisy was born. Leanne is a naturopath and whilst she was completing her studies her friends decided that Leanne McLean was not a suitable name for a naturopath so they came up with Annie Bushell instead.
Since announcing my intention to participate in the SBox my relatives over in Perth have been searching high and low for a suitable vehicle. We missed out on 2 potential cars by a matter of hours but then, by harnessing the power of Facebook, my cousin Tom discovered another possibility being sold by one of his mates. So on Saturday my cousin Tom, his girlfriend Kirstyn and Aunty Ali's mechanic Andy, went to check out Dolores and gave her the green light. As Andy said, "she'd take a dead man to his grave and back" or at least 2 mechanically-challenged girls from Perth to Darwin!
You can just see Kirstyn in the front passenger seat giving Dolores the thumbs-up!
Dolores has many fine qualities not least of which is a near new Sony stereo with mp3 jack and air-conditioning that works! Leanne and I can't wait to meet her in person and get stuck into a serious make-over.
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