Today we feature Rai and Bimla by Swinburne University graduate Elise Cook.

Rai and Bimla have had a long, successful marriage, raising a family of three sons in Australia, and describe themselves as being more in love than ever. Their story of commitment, hard work, and a growing love, is inspiring. They believe their forty years of marriage, which is intact and still growing, is a testament to the fact that if you stick together in difficult times, you can grow to enjoy life together in old age. In fact, Rai says that love came into their relationship long after the wedding.

That’s because, when Rai and Bimla met for the first time, they were already married.

Rai & Bimla “My Mum just told me, ‘You’re getting married’,” Bimla shares, “I was excited but I didn’t really know what it meant”.

https://www.celebratelivinghistory.com.au/rai-and-bimla/

Today's love story is The life of Rex and Desley by Griffith University graduate Margaret Nyakan Manynag Agoth. Rex and Desley Finedon were two ordinary people living their own lives, however with God’s guidance as they describe it, they became one.

When they first met, it was Rex’s last year at the Bible collage, before he joined the Campaigners of Christ organisation linked with the Australian Army.At this point in time Rex stayed in contact with Desley through letter writing, as she continued with her studies at the Bible Collage.Rex said even when he was in Vietnam they wrote letters to each other every single day.

“It sometimes took weeks to receive a letter. That is so different to Snap Chat, because you sit down and think about what your writing unlike Snap Chat where you just take a snap for 10 seconds and send it,” he says.

https://www.celebratelivinghistory.com.au/the-life-of-rex-and-desley/

Today we are sharing love at first sight- Nathaniel & Antonia’s story by Swinburne University graduate Jeanette Bonnici. It was fate that bought Nathaniel and Antonia together in 1943. “I was walking past the bus stop when I first saw Antonia. She was with her brother but I did not know that it was her brother. She was staring at me and I was thinking how cheeky she must be to be with another man but still be smiling at me,” Nathaniel laughs.https://www.celebratelivinghistory.com.au/love-at-first-sight-nathaniel-antonias-story/

Hello loves! To celebrate Valentines week, we are spreading love stories from former interns. Today we feature Marie Davis which was written by Swinburne University graduate Chris Paduano. Marie met her husband Roger in 1967 while living at the Victorian Bureau of Epilepsy (now the Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria). She lived there with five other girls, all sufferers of epilepsy who had chosen to move to Melbourne from the country. They met because Roger, a sufferer of severe epilepsy, would wait for his mother to drive him home after work. His mother had been responsible for starting the foundation because she felt that the help offered to epilepsy sufferers, including her son, was inadequate. Marie and Roger were engaged in 1968 and married later that year.https://www.celebratelivinghistory.com.au/marie-davis/

TO CELEBRATE THE NEW YEAR WE ARE DELVING INTO STORIES OUR STUDENT INTERNS HAVE CREATED OVER THE YEARS. Today we revisit Peder and the war in Norway By Trine Tessem Moerkeset. 

My Grandfather, Peder Tessem was a young boy during the Second World War but recalls what it was like growing up during the German invasion.

“Rationing with lack of food, clothing and other necessities was an area which gave us anxiety for the day and the future. It had been a large amount of import to the country in the last year before the war, and it was stockpiled for a year. The German occupation was going to last for 5 years, and in that time Norway was excluded from their most important trading partners, Great Britain and the USA. There was half a million Germans in the country, they needed food and a fair bit was sent to Germany. We used something called “crisisflour”, it was rough and from bad grains. People said they added chalk to make it heavier. After a while we started receiving replacement products, and the B-soap was the one I remembered the best. It was like a lump of clay, and what it had cleaned of your face was left in a ring in the washing bowl.We received shoes with wooden soles, and it could be leather of fish skins,”

 

To see the rest of the story visit www.celebratelivinghistory.com

To celebrate the new year we are delving into stories our student interns have created over the years. Today we revisit Stella Wilkie- 100 years and counting by Kate Grant. 

Stella Wilkie with her letter of congratulations from the Queen for reaching the impressive milestone of a hundred years. Stella has lived a rich, full life and there is still no stopping her. When asked what she was going to do next, without missing a beat she replied, “Me? Get married.”

Born in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1915, Stella has made her way from humble beginnings to having travelled the world, taking in everything she could along the way. Above all she values telling the truth, good or bad, and common sense - something she has plenty of I’d say after a hundred years.

 

To see Stella's story online visit 

www.celebratelivinghistory.com

This week we visit Alderly Queensland Australia and chat with Donna Ferguson who founded Unique Vibrations a business focussed on lifting the self confidence of women. If Donna could give advice to the younger generation it would be to have a plan. "Don’t expect your idea to be successful overnight, be resilient, be consistent and persistent at all times. Never give up, take your work seriously, do your due diligence, research your market, know your client fluently and be patient," she says.

To see Donna's story online visit www.celebratelivinghistory.com

Today we meet Jing Zhu who is running her own practice as a Victorian barrister. An older person she admires is her grandfather.

"My grandfather is the person I admire the most in the world. He lived through very difficult times when he was young, growing up in rural China, near Shanghai," she says

 

"Despite being a brilliant student, he was only able to receive very limited formal schooling before being called to perform work, out of necessity and a love of providing for his family.

 

Later on, after my parents and I immigrated to Australia, my retired grandfather came to Australia, a land whose land and customs he wasn’t familiar, to take care of me while both my parents worked full-time. Despite being 65 he had a passion for learning, was an active member of the local community and always making friends in English class. I even remember his making friends with a lovely British ex-pt by the name of Rose. His never-complaining attitude, hard work and tenacity to continue to inspire me to this day."

 

To see Jing's story online visit www.celebratelivinghistory.com

Today we meet Ian Oliver who is CEO of National Training in South Melbourne Australia.

If Ian could give advice to the younger generation it would be to not be afraid to change careers or jobs, "You should always be able to learn something new everyday,"he says

"Don’t be afraid to do someone else’s job especially someone who reports to you, maybe they have gone on holidays for a couple of weeks, you will often be amazed at what you discover and what you thought was happening is often not the case,"

"It is extremely difficult to change employee’s habits and preferences. Retraining, reskilling or change management is one of the hardest and misused process’s in management."

To see Ian's story online visit www.celebratelivinghistory.com

Today we meet Angela Rodgers who founded her own Business to business copywriting business.

An older person that she admires is her great grandma. "My Great Grandma was pretty cool, she made it to 102. I don’t just admire her for her longevity though. She was a feisty lady and raised four small children on her own after her husband died. She just got on with life, made the most of things, and was always super practical," she says.

To see Angela's story online visit www.celebratelivinghistory.com.au