Saved by an Angel

It was 2007 and I found myself in Queensland, Australia, on the beautiful Sunshine Coast,

I had recently arrived in Australia to house sit for friends, who were heading of on their 6 week dream trip to Europe and UK, as I drove them to the Airport I realised the only two people I knew were going away and leaving me on my own with just Tommy the Dalmatian dog for company.

Just a week earlier I had been laying on my bed in my parents house in England wondering what to do with myself, I phoned Shaz in Australia and she mentioned her and Jimmy were off for a longish holiday and interviewing house sitters.

“What about me” I asked and she said ring tomorrow and Jimmy and I will have a chat.

I had left UK in 1977 for a new life in NZ, frequently returning for short family visits, however my life turned upside down and I decided to spend 3 months with family, I felt bereft and lost after my darling third husband Pete, the love of my life passed with cancer at 52. He was a broken man when I met him after his marriage ended after his wife and two young daughters returned to UK. They had spent years planning the big move to NZ and sold up everything. His wife and daughters waited until the house was sold and arrived in Auckland months after Pete, she cried and carried on for nine months, as you can imagine the long planned for dream was fading fast and the girls were affected by their mothers change of heart. Poor Pete was at his wits end, they had sold up and shipped all the furniture over, he then paid for them to return to UK and shipped the furniture back again, however he chose to stay here on his own believing NZ was heaven on earth. He mentioned to me, they had spent years planning, he had even paid for an earlier trip to visit NZ, and he asked her, “ Are you sure” yes, she said she was as excited as he was planning their new life and adventure.

Sadly Pete was diagnosed with cancer in the January of 2006 he was incredible, he carried on working, still queued outside the gym every morning waiting for opening time and continued his daily run after work. He was a dynamo always on the go, he lived each day with passion for life and only close family and friends know he had the disease. His colleagues were unaware, only a couple of people in HR department were in his confidence, in fact when everything took a downwood spiral, he passed 6 weeks later, his colleagues were shocked as they believed he had taken annual leave. only 4 months after our very special beach wedding. We hired a fabulous large vessel called “ Nirvana “ and invited 25 friends and family to join us for our wedding day, my parents flew over from UK and our friends from Australia. We tied the knot on one of the beautiful beaches in the Hauraki Gulf, a small group of islands not far from Auckland. Peter and I were incredibly happy, we danced, skied, rode our bikes around “The Bays” on a Sunday morning, Life was good and he was the love of my life. He was incredibly romantic, out of the blue a single red rose would turn up at my office a small black card and a hand written love note in Italian, we held a function for one of my birthday and he secretly organised a male opera singer to sing to me, never had I felt so completely loved as Pete made me feel. We had 3 amazing years together, friends called us “ two peas in a pod” we visited my friends on the Sunshine Coast and Pete loved the sunny weather, he adored the beach and fishing, he and Jimmy clicked and became great friends. Shaz and I had met in Napier in the late 70s when both our husbands played soccer for Napier City Rovers, I was newly married at the tender age of 19 to my first husband and had left everything I knew behind in England, Sharon was originally from UK and had 2 young children, we clicked immediately, and became friends.

I found myself on my own after husband no 1 ran away with another woman, we had dated for a year as teenagers in UK and I thought I knew him, nope ! He turned out to be a Jack of all trades, master of none, however found it difficult to stay in position more than a few months. I very quickly realised I was going to be the breadwinner, I had only had one permanent position in UK since leaving school, so as well as coping without family in a new country very different from everything I knew I also had a husband who was a gallivanter, that marriage ended and I felt broken and betrayed, however I didn’t tell my parents in UK for 3 months, as I knew they had not trusted him or wanted me to emigrate to NZ and I didn’t want to return with my tail between my legs.

I chose to stay and start over, his parents couldn’t believe what he had done and took me in looked after me. I was twenty one, heartbroken and my life was a mess.

Two weeks later, on my shift in the restaurant as the hostess in the Travelodge a man asked if I would like to go on a beach outing with everyone on the table, it was a largish group of about 8 people. I declined as I was feeling very fragile after my marriage breakup. Husband no 1 had begged and begged for me to take him back, promising he would change, however I knew it was over and life would never be any different, he even said we could have a baby, and I thought horrors, that would be my worst nightmare. Ending up with a child on my own, no way. I moved on.

An older lady on the dinner table, touched my arm and said, “ it’s ok dear I will be at the beach tomorrow you will be perfectly safe” I still did not feel comfortable however I accepted the invitation and did enjoy the picnic next day, the man was quite nice, I didn’t feel I wanted to meet again as I was still feeling very upset. I discovered the man was visiting from Auckland and staying with a colleague and his family. He told me he was a First Mate, which meant nothing to me, we met for lunch and I then understood he was an Merchant Navy Officer. He kept returning on leave to visit me.

Long story short, I moved to Auckland, married him and we had two children, he was fourteen years older than me, also English and became a Ships Captain after our daughter was born. The baby years were busy, I raised the children whilst he was away and I worked part time, more for sanity than anything else. Without any family to assist or support me, life was pretty tough as a young mum. We grew apart and in 2000 I walked away from my second marriage.

In 2007 after coming to terms with life as a widow, I drove Shaz and Jimmy to the airport I asked about the best way to make new friends and about job hunting, they said look on the internet, so I did and by the time they returned, exhausted and very happy I had secured myself a permanent position as a Sales Rep complete with company car. Woohoo, I felt life start to come together in that moment, and I realised whatever happens in life the good parts outweigh the bad . I had just over 3 years of incredible happiness with Pete, I felt blessed and knew many couples spent years of unhappiness staying together for all the wrong reasons. Onwards and upwards. My position as a Territory Sales Manager involved many hours of driving visiting showrooms on a monthly rotation. Every week I drove to Springwood in Brisbane for the weekly Sales Meeting. On the day of the flash flood, the sun was shining when I left my home on the Sunshine Coast and the drive was nothing out of the ordinary. There was always lots of traffic on the Bruce Highway and called on a couple of Brisbane customers, the rain started and as I drove through Carina Heights it became heavier and heavier to the point where I was unable to see anything. My company car stopped unable to move, and I had no idea if there were any cars near me. I remember phoning my Manager in Brisbane and my then partner on the Sunshine Coast, I felt absolutely panic stricken and very alone and afraid. Still sitting in my car and wondering what I should do, it was absolutely pelting down. There was a knock on the drivers side window, I opened it and a man who was bone dry told me he was going to push my car. I remember asking him what he was doing outside in the terrible weather and he replied he was looking for a couple of missing children. I said to him, you won’t be able to push my car, however he walked around the back and pushed. My car moved forward and became free, the man disappeared, I had a puncture and had to wait for a tow truck, the rainwater covered my tyres and water had to be pumped out of the inside. That evening I heard on the news two children had died after being washed away in a storm drain. Right where I had been trapped in my car. I feel very blessed, as I am pretty sure Angelic help came to my rescue on that awful stormy day, and since then I have lived each day with gratitude and love,

I have had many more similar experiences since, however I am saving those for another day. Watch this space !