Connie's Diary: Flying Business Class to surprise Sam

The flight over to Perth was awesome! I got to fly business class and they had these pods to sit in. The chairs extend and you can lie flat, and the chairs have an inbuilt massager! I had a big sleep and when I woke up there was a cupcake beside me! How delightful. I can see why people fly business class now; I have always thought, why would you spend all that extra money, when the flight will be over, you get off and forget about it? Now I get it, you get to be comfortable, spread out, sleep and eat at your leisure.

After this flight I am ready to surprise Sam, I wonder how he will react when he sees me?

Connie's Diary: Preparing for the big surprise

After Darwin, I wasn’t sure that I would make it to Perth, but the whole time I have been hoping that I would make it. I couldn’t commit, because I never know how I will be feeling in advance, but when ‘The Project’ offered to fly me over for a surprise visit to Sam I was so excited.

I have had to keep it a secret from Sam, which has felt cruel. Every time he asked if I was coming to Perth I had to say that I wasn’t feeling strong enough and it wasn’t looking good. It felt absolutely awful lying to him, but I really wanted to surprise him in Perth. The plan was that Carrie would go over to Perth, and ride into Perth with Sam (on a 2 wheeler) then she would present me as a surprise once they got there. When Sam heard that Carrie would be joining him on the road he rang me up and said “Con, you have to come to Perth now, Carrie Bickmore is coming and riding with me, you have to come, you can’t miss this!”

I felt like such a phoney when I said that I would love to, but I just can’t, the kids need me and Mike has exams, so I really can’t come, plus I just don’t know if I am up to travelling at the moment. Samuel was so excited that it felt awful to fib to him, but the surprise should be worth it.

Connie's Diary: Hammy Star Wars Party

Hammy was invited to a Star Wars birthday party recently. He has never seen Star Wars (neither have I), but he has books, and they talk about it at school, so he knows all the characters, and seems to love it. He chose to dress up as Anniken as a child, as he had seen in a book, which was perfect, because he has the same hair as the little boys who plays the part in the movie, and looks quite like him.

When I went to buy the fabric to make his costume, he innocently asked me if I had bought the material in the Star Wars section of the shop. How cute is that? I love that he thinks there would be a section just for Star Wars material in the fabric shop!

Anyway, here he is, dressed up as little Anniken, and next to him, is a picture of little Anniken from the movie. Spot the difference!

Connie's Diary: Visiting Hammy’s Class

Last year, in the times when I was feeling ok, I went to Willoughby’s class and helped out one afternoon per week. I assisted with reading, craft, and crowd control, which is what school is like sometimes. I really enjoyed seeing Willoughby in his classroom, with all of the children he talks about at home. It was also great to get to know the other children in his class and just being involved helped lift my spirits and give me something to look forward to each week.

Love Your Sister has been taking up most of my spare time and energy this year, so I haven’t been able to do the same thing for Hamilton in his first year of school, but lately, since I have been having a chemo break and feeling a little more energised, I have been able to get back to the school to help out. It is really great being back, and doing this year, what I did with Willoughby last year.

It is really great to see Hamilton at school, and get to know his friends and classmates. I just love being in the classroom, I think if I had my time again I would study teaching and become a teacher, perhaps in a special needs environment, to incorporate my love for the disability field. I really do love the classroom and helping young students with the reading and activities. It is so amazing to watch them grow up in that first year of school; they make a huge transformation from being pre-schoolers to being big school kids by the end of the first year. It is incredible. I hope that my health stays strong and that I can continue to go and help in the class as I really enjoy and so does Hammy.

Connie's Diary: First Time Recognised

Some of my friends have been saying that I am famous now, and I really don’t think that I am, and I certainly don’t feel like it. Walking down the corridor in the hospital I hear, “Is that you Connie?” and I turn around expecting to see one of my nurses or doctors, but it is someone I have never seen before and she says, “I recognised you from the TV, you’re brother is riding his unicycle around the country isn’t he?” I was quite shocked; she knew my name, recognised my face and knew all about Love Your Sister. I guess we are getting our message out there if people I don’t know know about us! How bizarre?