About Rilke – Background

It is only fair that you learn something about me, as I will learn about you and your family as I work for you as your Life Celebrant.

I have been an employee and a business operator, a wife and a single mother.

I am an only child whose mother bravely faced solo child-raising in an era when this was rare. She was often ill, which meant I was cared for by others from time to time – this included an orphanage, a foster mother and a girls home, as well as being taken into the homes of friends and even teachers. This very early on gave me a belief in the goodness inside us all and an understanding of the wide variety of ways people are and live their lives.

I was born in Melbourne. My mother comes from Brisbane and her parents were European refugees. Her family is small and scattered around the world. My father was born in Melbourne of Scottish stock and is proud that his great, great uncle was the William John Wills half of the 1860 explorer team of Burke and Wills.

It wasn't until I was in my thirties that I met my father's family and was greatly comforted to find people with the same quirks as myself and, along with a warm welcome, a strong sense of belonging.

When I left Sydney to move back to Melbourne (where most of my family and my ex-husband's family live) I left my two wonderful, adult daughters behind. They were both born in Canberra, where I lived for fourteen years.

Thanks to Gough Whitlam introducing free tertiary education, I have a degree in Social Sciences. In the course of a long working life, much of it as a consultant on short assignments, I have worked in just about every industry you can think of. Employers have been as varied – all types of government and all sizes of business. This helps me connect with people from all walks of life.

I have celebrated important milestones in my own life and always try my best to bring joy and comfort to those I come in contact with while being honest and true to myself.

› Continue to About Rilke – Beliefs