Thursday 12 February 2015

Introducing......... Mary the Brave xx







Hi Everyone!! I asked Jodes if I could give her a night off and be ‘guest blogger’ for an evening. As I’m sure you can appreciate – this is a little daunting after the amusing, funny, insightful updates Jodes has blessed us with, but nevertheless….here I am!
When thinking about ‘what to write about’ many things went through my head (most of them at around 3am wouldn’t you know it)! I could write about MS (boring), the procedure (Jodes has touched on this) or my disability (snore). If you’d like to hear about any of these things, please fire questions at me in the comments section! I’m an open book!
Anyway – I decided I’d write about my Jodie; how we met; our ‘journey’ (that sounds very “X-Factor” doesn’t it) and so on. I have rewritten this after reading Jodes (amazing) blog on Monday as I had written – virtually word for word – what she had written (but from my perspective of course)! We are very much a ‘mutual admiration’ society!
I take it that many of you don’t know Jodes personally….more the pity for you. As you can probably appreciate from her writing; Jodie is open, warm, loyal, fun (!), inspiring….amazing. As she mentioned, we call each other our ‘no-but’ friend cos - you know how you can have great friends but….‘they b*tch’; ‘they get annoying’; ‘they eat too loud’….etc …well, with Jodie there is NO ‘but’. She is just exceptional.
Again – as she mentioned, we met about a b’zillion years ago when we were in our early 20’s. I still remember the first time I met her – soooo nervous! She was in a dark green pant suit (trust me – it was cool in the early 90’s) and was with the ‘cool kids’ at a Dragon Boat function. She was fun, crazy, beautiful – the life of the party. I was instantly in love with her (hey – keep it clean) in a best friend kind of way! Come to think of it - I met most of my nearest and dearest through the GC Dragons and they are still ‘my people’ today……(I have A LOT to thank Dragon Boating for)!
Anyway, through the Gold Coast Dragons we became the best of friends. I love her family and we’ve been with each other for most of life’s BIG events – weddings, kids, houses, jobs. We’ve got a LOT of history.
Jodie and Adam (her hubby) packed up and left for the USA in about 1999. They worked on a millionaire’s yacht/boat for a few years, cruising around Martha’s Vineyard, the Bahamas and the Caribbean …. Sound’s hideous right?
When she left, I honestly felt like I had lost my right arm. It was DEVASTATING! I still remember her going away party and I was inconsolable as we left….Ugh. It was shattering. (Remember too – this was before facebook etc). Thank God Adam brought her home to me….only for them to up sticks and move to the island which, while only 100km away (if that) felt like Western Australia! Sigh…luckily we’re stronger than any distance (even though we’re both sh*t at phone calls)!
What else…oh – you may have picked up…Jodes has a penchant for skinny dipping. It could be because she’s always had an awesome body; maybe she’s just one of those kindred Zen earth mother kinds….or maybe she’s nuts. Off the top of my head, I remember:
  • nights in New Zealand when our team was in 2 mini-buses and she would flash the other bus every time it went past …so freaking funny when you’re 24-ish;
  • An evening skinny dipping down at Broadbeach after a particularly silly BBQ/party at Kurrawa;
  • Getting her gear off at a camping site in Canberra after winning a National Title (I was WAY too drunk to join in);
  • One night at her unit on Chevron Island a group of us all jumped into her apartment blocks (communal) pool nude at some ungodly hour….only to have the police pull up minutes after we had jumped in…
Hmmm…..perhaps this alcohol ban thing does have its benefits…..
I personally am not much of a drinker now …unless we’re talking about coffee. I get really self-conscious about my gait and falling over…I can’t get to the loo in a hurry, can’t dance, and can’t stand/mingle (and who wants to get stuck talking to the girl sitting in the corner right?!). So now, I’m really only comfortable drinking with friends at home...and since 80% of my friends live 2,000km’s away….it’s hard to have them round for a bevvy or 2.
I (romantically) think I was a good drinking buddy...I loved hitting the dance floor…loved organising get togethers…loved boozy lunches…all that stuff. But the more I think about it...I also think I may have been a bit of a crier (ever had THAT friend?!)....and early on, I was so obsessed with my looks (or lack of) that I possibly spent way too much time in the ladies loo reapplying lipstick - badly! Mind you – there was always a good D&M to get involved with in the ladies loo at Billies on a Saturday night.
But seriously….who knows - it's all a bit foggy!! I do know I had a LOT of laughs, a LOT of really funny adventures and I was/am a big hugger so it can't all have been bad.
It’s ironic that I'm having a happy hour fund-raiser here in Mt Gambier in February while Jodes is still abstaining. Good thing she’s 3 states away! I might have to have a sneaky G&T for her!
As you can imagine, once this procedure is done and dusted, I am SO looking forward to having a celebratory drink (or 10) with Jodie and ‘our people’ because I have a feeling there will be a LOT of celebrating to be had; lots of laughs; some tears; a possible skinny dip; perhaps even some chin-up/push up comps....but that’s another story.
Thanks for having me and for your support – for me and my beautiful Jodie. Mary xx


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