Nadine Williams

Le premier mot…

Behind the lack of blogging on my website over the past year, I have had a secret project. I have been very busy completing a 100,000 word manuscript telling the story of how I have pulled myself back from the deepest pit of grief following my husband Olivier Foubert’s death to patch myself up again (think of Humpty Dumpty here) to re-engage with a love of life. Recovery from grief is like childbirth. No-one can take this gruellinig path for you and we are simply not equipped to cope well with sorrow.  But your family and friends can walk with you as you grope towards the light once more, trying to awaken the person you once more. I have taken my journey from grief – about returning to France with a girlfriend, about friendships, about food and phobias and learning how to have fun again – and written my story hoping it will help others facing terrible loss.  My greatest hurdle was learning to cope with sudden loneliness – and so I spent two weeks in Paris alone to regain my sense of self.  Although its my personal story, grief is a universal emotion and is intrinsically linked to love. In our older lives, love and loss are as bound together as the adage of our youth that love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage.  I don’t know if I will be successful in getting my story published. Presently, it is in the hands of my literary agent. I wait patiently, but regardless, writing my stuff has been cathartic – and I feel healed. I can proudly write that whatever the outcome, my story, with the working title Bon Voyage Mesdames  is the best thing I have ever written.

Adelaidians can show solidarity with Paris

The Premier of South Australia, Jay Weatherall and Ambassador to France in Australia,Christophe Lecourtier, will be speaking at a public vigil to show support and solidarity for the victims of the attacks in Paris and to the people of France.

The vigil will be held tomorrow night –  Tuesday  November 17 from 6pm to 7pm at the Soldiers Memorial Gardens in Unley (adjacent to the Unley Shopping Centre).

Speakers will include the Ambassador and the Premier. A minute of silence will be held and internationally renowned soprano Gisele Blanchard will lead the singing of the Marseillaise, the French national anthem.

Feisty Michelle wins big race and our hearts

If ever the Melbourne Cup, Australia’s great horse race, defined us as Australian, it was when the first woman jockey, Michelle Payne rode Prince of Penzance over the finish line at Flemington.

It was a sensational ride to victory against all the odds  ridden by a slip of a lady who even some of the horse’s owners wanted removed as jockey.  And Prince of Penzance had the equal longest odds in cup history at 100/1 racing against

Michelle’s story of her childhood dream  come true to win the Melbourne Cup reflects her life as one of 10 children  of the Payne horseracing family who had endured their fair share of life’s body blows.

The race itself had all the elements of why the Melbourne Cup stops the nation.  This year, the favourites were way back in the field and instead the 100/1  Prince of Penzance, romped home in a dream ride. With Michelle in the saddle,  the least favoured had grabbed the glory.

However, the magic began before the rac when Michelle’s brother, Stevie, who has Down syndrome, and is strapper for Prince of Penzance, drew the barrier for the magnificent animal.   It must have been a good luck omen.  Stevie, who lives with his sister, then  placed a $10- bet on his sister winning the race. Yet another barrier – attitudes to people with Down syndrome – was broken in an instant as Stevie explained his own hopes for his sister’s success.

When she won Australia’s most glamorous horse race, despite the gaggle of sporting commentators, owners and an adoring crowd, Michelle first hugged her brother. Then she mounted the podium, cracking the whip during  her victory speech to chide some of the part-owners who didn’t want her to ride, telling them in Aussie lingo to “get stuffed’’.

“I want to say to everyone else, get stuffed, because women can do anything and we can beat the world,’’ she railed.  She used her moment of glory to expose the chauvinism in Australian racing circles and said female jockeys were as good as men – as she had proven in the toughest race on our turf.

However, there is yet another powerful lesson in this true Aussie tale.   Prince of Penzance had flashed past all those foreign-owned magnificent horses (backed for millions) to show that an Aussie horse would win the race which honoured the late great Australian  race horse owner, Bart Cummings.

Michelle swept aside many societal stigmas and endemic discrimination in one mighty ride.  She lost her mother when she was only six years ago and the family of 10 siblings were raised by their trainer dad.  For the sake of horse racing, the tight-knit family faced grief when Michelle’s sister lost her life in a racing accident in 2007.

No wonder the Melbourne Cup  stops the nation. Because Michelle and her brother Stevie, won our hearts.   Watch this space for announcement of an Aussie film.

Regular exercise can slash breast cancer risk

Hit the pavement running ladies, or hire that exercise bike to stave off breast cancer.

According to a French study of postmenopausal women, regular recreational physical activity seems to have a rapid impact on breast cancer risk in women over 50.

The research from the Institut Gustav Roussy in Villejuif involved data from 59,308 women enrolled in an ongoing European investigation into links between cancer and nutrition.

However, the striking result was that 30 minutes of walking a day can reduce the chances of breasts cancer in women over 50.

Researcher, Agnes Fournier said older women who exercise can slash 20 per cent of their risk of developing breast cancer.

“We found that recreational physical activity, even of modest intensity, seemed to have a rapid impact on breasts cancer risk,’’ she said.

However, the team in France warned that the reduced risk only applied to women who had undertaken exercise in the last four years. Exercising when younger, or more than four years earlier, does not have the same impact it reported.

Poverty to be eliminated by 2030

The pledge by world leaders to end poverty by 2030 is one of the good news stories of the latter half of 2015.

The new UN agenda includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets which apply to both developing and developed countries. Although the United Nations has set out an ambitious list of goals, its plan will be backed up by trillions of dollars in development spending.

Pope Francis, making his first address to the UN urged leaders to take “concrete steps and important measures” because solemn commitment was not enough.

According to UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, the “to-do list for people and planet’’ is not only to end poverty, but ensure healthy lives, promote education and combat climate change.

The UN heard that 836 million people live in extreme poverty, mostly in the sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

Wordsmith leaves legacy of years of wisdom

Farewell  to former The Advertiser What’s Your Problem editor, Barbara Vivienne Ross, who died on October 18 in Adelaide, aged 82.

Barbara was Adelaide’s local Dorothy Dix with all the answers to myriad questions presented to the What’s Your Problem column, which she edited for more than 20 years.  When she retired in 1989, she had amassed thousands of readers who read her missives faithfully.

Born in Tasmania, Barbara joined Launceston’s The Examiner newspaper as a cadet journalist. When she met Peter Ross, who worked at the local radio station, they married in 1955 and later moved to Adelaide.

When they separated in 1962, Barbara was left with two children to raise alone.  In 1968, she joined the Advertiser as a journalist, taking over What’s Your Problem, which had started the previous year.

Over time, she made it one of the most popular columns of the paper. In 1982, she produced a book of the most popular questions and answers and it sold out in one day.  A second print run followed and Volume II in 1985 was just as popular .

Barbara retired in 1989 and spent her retirement gardening, reading and completing The Advertiser crossword daily. She died of a stroke and is survived by Nicholas and Caroline and her five  beloved grandchildren.