I came from a large, impoverished family and my mother died of cancer when I was thirteen. After finishing my nursing degree and doing some world travelling, I moved to Australia and now live in the beautiful city of Toowoomba. I raised my two daughters as a single mum.
Whilst I was in Romania by myself after the revolution adopting a baby girl from an orphanage, I kept a journal. My book is based on the journal, and I had been wanting to write it for twenty-three years.
Thirty-five years ago, when I finally arrived back in Australia after adopting a baby girl from an orphanage in post Communist Romania, my youngest brother, Kent Rickerby, happened to be visiting Australia from New Zealand, and wrote this poem. For thirty-five years, this beautifully written, heartfelt poem was filed away, unread, until a few weeks ago, Kent found it and sent a copy and I was able