Irene is my neighbour and dear friend. She is 92 years old and she lives with her daughter and son-in-law.
Irene is a lady of grace, composure, compassion and humour. She is excellent at cards (five-hundred).
In her long life she has endured hardship, loss and the greatest love.
In our conversation Irene told me about the hardships she endured as a child during the Great Depression. She described scavenging at the train tracks for fuel fallen off the wagons, the repossession of her family's furniture, the sale of her mother's jewellery. Her family walked from Rozelle to the city to collect their weekly food ration in a suitcase. These years were hard for Irene and for many other people.
Irene recalled her father, a miner, digging a shelter in the backyard during World War II, and the impact on her family of her brother going away to the war.
Irene married Alan in 1935, when she was just 17. Irene described this as "the beginning of my life", and the loss of Alan in 2007 as the greatest loss of her life. Alan was the centre of Irene's life for over 70 years. They had three children.
Irene told me an extraordinary story of survival. She was traveling with Alan and her 8 month old daughter when the brakes on Alan's truck failed (Alan was in the carrying business). The truck raced downhill, out of control. Reacting quickly, Irene wound down her window and threw her daughter clear of the truck. Alan jumped. Irene couldn't escape the crash and suffered a broken neck. She spent three months in hospital, and nine weeks in traction. She was paralysed in her right arm and leg. She was reduced to crawling around the house. Through sheer determination, she walked again after several years: "I had to get out of it [her situation] ... I got out of it, I walked, it took me a long time."
We talked about the importance of give and take in life, and how give and take made Irene's marriage work: "You've got to give and take though life ... that's how you come to stay together."
For many years Irene worked at David Jones. She was selected from the staff to serve Queen Elizabeth II at a garden party at Government House in Canberra in 1954. She served the Queen a watercress sandwich.
The most valuable thing in Irene's life now is "to be happy ... for the world to be a happy place ... for people to realise what they are to one another, to care for one another."
There is an undeniable truth in Irene's statement that "we are all the same, doesn't matter what you've got." I've never heard anyone state this simple truth with such eloquence.
Looking back over her life, Irene says that it has all gone so quickly. Her advice to everyone is to "enjoy every day, because every day counts."
(Conversation with Nick, Irene's neighbour, 9 January 2011)