The Mother who Chose

We were camped near a tiny Western Australian town we’d never heard of — Brunswick. When we woke, Kelli found a note on our windscreen thanking us for our work and offering us a “place” for a shower.

The woman’s name was Joyce. She had been a nurse until she lost her job due to the mandates and now lived here with her two sons Ellijah and Ryan.

I told her we love interviewing nurses who had lived through this, because one day people will look back astounded that the Government let our hospitals run short-staffed, rather than rehire them.

But when we reached her house, we discovered her true story was deeper and richer — and despite all the hardships, full of love.

That’s how I think of the house now: a slightly run-down Fort of Love.