If you enjoy this episode of The Australian Women's Weekly Love Stories, make sure you pop on over and follow us on your podcast app of choice! Here we are on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and even in full video on YouTube (wow!).

About the episode:

Shaun Micallef admits he approached fatherhood much like an IKEA flatpack: without reading the instructions. 

Now his middle son Gabe is 26, and the pair have become colleagues, co-hosting Network 10’s Shaun Micallef’s Parents Evening, a game show that tests just how well parents and their adult children really know each other. 

In this episode, Shaun and Gabe sit down with Tiffany Dunk to talk about what Gabe inherited from his dad, growing up with one of Australia’s best-known comedians and how their relationship has changed now that they’re both adults. 

Plus, they reveal how the homemade movies they made together when Gabe was a child may have laid the groundwork for them eventually ending up on television together. 

Moments you’ll hear: 

• Shaun’s theory about whether love actually exists 
• Why Shaun decided not to read the parenting books 
• The simple childhood adventures Gabe remembers with his dad 
• What Gabe inherited from Shaun 
• The homemade movies they made together as a family 
• What it was really like growing up with Shaun Micallef as your dad 
• How Parents Evening brought father and son together professionally 
• What Shaun and Gabe hope for each other’s futures 

Watch Shaun Micallef’s Parents Evening on Network 10 and 10 Play. 

Thank you for listening ❤️ 

Before you leave... 

🗣️ Get in touch 

What did you think? We are a brand-new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Love Stories community and visit us at womensweekly.com.au 

Email us your love stories (and any feedback) at [email protected] 

If you share your love story on social media please tag us, we're @womensweeklymag, and use the hashtag #AWWLoveStories 

Subscribe to The Australian Women's Weekly at www.womensweekly.com.au 👈🏽 

Sending thanks to our partners at Wounded Heroes. 

You can help Wounded Heroes deliver emergency assistance to current Australian Defence Force members, veterans and their families by donating at: www.woundedheroes.org.au/actsofservice 

Credits 

Host: Tiffany Dunk 

Edited by Leah Porges 

Production by Leah Porges 

Our wonderful The Australian Women's Weekly team 

Our Head of Vodcasting is Rachel Fountain 

Learn More: The Australian Women's Weekly website 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you enjoy this episode of The Australian Women's Weekly Love Stories, make sure you pop on over and follow us on your podcast app of choice! Here we are on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and even in full video on YouTube (wow!).

About the episode:

Brooke McClymont rode her bike past Adam Eckersley 's house every morning on the way to school in Grafton. Most mornings he'd yell out that he was going to marry her one day. She'd yell back "in your dreams, mullet head." 

Ten years later they ran into each other at the pub at Christmas. Adam was living in his van at Merewether Beach. Brooke had a record deal. They sat up all night over cabanossi and brie and eventually worked out that they were more than friends. Then they signed a six-month lease in case it didn't work. That was 18 years ago. 

In this episode of The Australian Women's Weekly Love Stories, the country music couple talk to Tiffany Dunk about making a marriage work in an industry that pulls people apart: the three-week rule for time on the road, the morning shift Adam took for years so Brooke could sleep, and the six weeks he spent alone with two kids in lockdown while Brooke was on I'm a Celebrity. 

They also go to the hard places. The COVID year when they were about to lose the farm, and the idea that saved it. The month Adam stopped getting out of the ute to play with his daughter at the bus stop, and what that told him. And the night he asked Brooke to book him in to talk to someone, because he knew he'd turn up if she did. 

Their third album Souls on Show is out now, and one track, 'In and Out of Love', is the closest thing they have to a marriage manifesto: stay together while you fall in and out of it. Two decades on, Adam still says Brooke has the best female voice in Australia, and she still says he's the best songwriter she's ever written with. 

  

Buy Souls on Show or book tickets to their show here 

Email [email protected] with your date and accommodation preference to book Hang at the Wang 

Sending thanks to our partners at Wounded Heroes Australia.  

You can help Wounded Heroes deliver emergency assistance to current Australian Defence Force members, veterans and their families by donating at: www.woundedheroes.org.au/actsofservice 

Moments you’ll hear: 

• The teenage bike ride past Adam's house, the marriage proposal shouted from the front yard, and the two words Brooke yelled back
• Why Adam says his eldest son, not Brooke, was the first time he ever felt love, and why he still barely says the word
• Cabanossi, brie and an all-night talk: the least romantic "we're official" conversation you'll ever hear
• Living in a van at Merewether Beach, and the night-time toilet runs that finally convinced Brooke to get a lease
• A wedding on the Tamworth farm with Tom Gleeson on the mic, a mud-brown dress and a groom covered in scabies
• The three-week rule that stopped touring from quietly ending their marriage
• Six weeks alone with two kids in lockdown while Brooke was in the jungle, and the letter Adam sent in: "I'm a Parent, Get Me Out of Here"
• Nearly losing the farm during COVID, and the 40-fans-at-a-time idea that saved it
• The bus stop moment that made Adam realise he needed help, and why he asked Brooke to make the booking
• Date night is a fire in the bottom shed, and 20 years from now it's a veggie patch with Brooke on a throne

Thank you for listening ❤️ 

Before you leave... 

🗣️ Get in touch 

What did you think? We are a brand-new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Love Stories community and visit us at womensweekly.com.au 

Email us your love stories (and any feedback) at [email protected] 

If you share your love story on social media please tag us, we're @womensweeklymag, and use the hashtag #AWWLoveStories 

Subscribe to The Australian Women's Weekly at www.womensweekly.com.au 👈🏽 

Credits 

Host: Tiffany Dunk 

Edited by Phoebe Zukowski-Wallace 

Production by Leah Porges 

Our wonderful The Australian Women's Weekly team 

Our Head of Vodcasting is Rachel Fountain 

Learn More: The Australian Women's Weekly website 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Time to bless your feed with a new episode of our heartfelt new podcast, Love Stories, from The Australian Women's Weekly. Love Stories is about celebrating and appreciating love in all its forms. Think the stories behind how your favourite couples first met, siblings who have seen each other through thick and thin, parents and children and the deep bonds we have with our pets, and those who've loved, lost and learned to love themselves again. Find, follow and subscribe (or hit the +) to The Australian Women's Weekly Love Stories wherever you like to listen to or watch your podcasts: on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and more.  There's a gorgeous back catalogue for you to binge on and catch all the feels! Olympic sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell, Georgie Tunny and Rob Mills spill on babies and marriage, Matty and Esther Acton on being 40 year old grandparents, Katie Noonan on the grief of divorce, David and Lisa Campbell on their long marriage, Jess Row and Peter Overton, Julie and Mick Goodwin and so many more!

First, let us introduce you to Mark and Cherelle Herewini , who are part of our special Love Stories: Acts of Service series <3m - made in partnership with our friends at Wounded Heroes. You can help Wounded Heroes deliver emergency assistance to current Australian Defence Force members, veterans and their families by donating at: www.woundedheroes.org.au/actsofservice 

Content warning: This episode discusses veteran mental health, alcohol use, and suicide. Support is available: Wounded Heroes Australia crisis line 1300 532 112 (24/7) | Lifeline 13 11 14 (24/7). 

On a 3am car ride home together, Mark and Cherelle Herewini discussed marriage – four weeks later they were husband and wife. Now, after nearly three decades and multiple East Timor deployments, they're still together. But the years right after Mark hung up his uniform were some of the hardest of their marriage. 

In this episode, Mark and Cherelle sit down with Tiffany Dunk to talk about what deployment looked like for a new mum waiting by the phone, the sense of purpose Mark lost the moment he left the Army, and the drinking and distance that crept into their marriage once he was home. 

They also talk candidly about what support really looks like for veteran families, why so many people don't reach out until it's a crisis, and how the work Mark does can support other veterans to find their way back to a sense of purpose. 

To all veterans who may be watching or listening to this episode, we thank you for your service. 

Moments you’ll hear: 

• The 3am decision that led to a wedding just four weeks later 
• Growing up an Army kid, and the promise Cherelle swore she'd never break 
• Racing home from East Timor and missing the birth of their daughter by 12 hours 
• The five-minute phone calls, and the letters Cherelle still has 
• Mark losing his sense of purpose the moment the uniform came off 
• The years of drinking and distance that followed, and how they found their way back 
• What Mark hopes people understand about veterans, and what Cherelle hopes for veteran families 

Thank you for listening ❤️ 

Before you leave...  

🗣️ Get in touch  

What did you think? We are a brand-new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Love Stories community and visit us at womensweekly.com.au/love-stories-podcast  

Email us your love stories (and any feedback) at [email protected]  

If you share your love story on social media, please tag us. We’re @womensweeklymag, and use the hashtag #AWWLoveStories 

Subscribe to The Australian Women’s Weekly at magshop.com.au/LOVESTORIES 👈🏽  

Sending thanks to our partners at Wounded Heroes Australia.  

You can help Wounded Heroes deliver emergency assistance to current Australian Defence Force members, veterans and their families by donating at: www.woundedheroes.org.au/actsofservice  

Need help now? Wounded Heroes crisis line 1300 532 112, 24/7, Australia wide. 

Credits 

Host: Tiffany Dunk 

Edited by Leah Porges 

Production by Leah Porges 

Our wonderful The Australian Women's Weekly team 

Our Head of Vodcasting is Rachel Fountain 

Learn More: The Australian Women's Weekly website 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We hope you enjoy this episode of The Australian Women's Weekly Love Stories...

Jim Rogers met his wife Lorna in a small English town. The two connected over a shared obsession with VW Beetles. They married, had three children, and moved to Perth chasing sunshine. Life was good until Lorna was diagnosed with melanoma and tragically died within a few years, leaving Jim a single father to three children under nine. 

Eighteen months later, his parents sent him on a holiday he didn't want to go on. There, he met a man named Tyler. What followed was a relationship neither of them expected, kept quietly in the background of family life for years, and one that's now lasted 26 years. 

In this episode, Jim and Millie sit down with Tiffany Dunk to talk about the process of writing Jim's memoir together: the hardest parts to put into words, what it was like for Millie to hear new stories about her mum and her dad's early relationship with Tyler, and Jim's more recent diagnosis of young-onset Alzheimer's, which he's chosen to speak about publicly rather than hide. 

Plus, Jim talks about the podcast he co-hosts with Hamish MacDonald, Hold the Moment, and what he hopes it can do to de-stigmatise Alzheimer's and help people with the diagnosis feel less alone. 

Moments you’ll hear: 

• How Jim met Lorna, and the VW Beetle that started it all 
• Millie's memory of the day her dad told her and her siblings their mum had died 
• The holiday Jim didn't want to go on, and the man he met there 
• Millie's first inkling that her dad's friend was more than a friend 
• The proposal on top of the Empire State Building, and the surprise engagement at home 
• Jim's young-onset Alzheimer's diagnosis 
• Why Jim decided to write it all down, "warts and all" 

Photo Credit: Rob Palmer 

You can listen to Jim’s podcast, Hold The Moment, here. 

Find Jim & Millie’s book, Holding on to Happiness, here. 

Thank you for listening ❤️ 

Before you leave... 

🗣️ Get in touch 

What did you think? We are a brand-new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Love Stories community and visit us at womensweekly.com.au 

Email us your love stories (and any feedback) at [email protected] 

If you share your love story on social media please tag us, we're @womensweeklymag, and use the hashtag #AWWLoveStories 

Subscribe to The Australian Women's Weekly at womensweekly.com.au 👈🏽 

Sending thanks to our partners at Wounded Heroes. 

You can help Wounded Heroes deliver emergency assistance to current Australian Defence Force members, veterans and their families by donating at: www.woundedheroes.org.au/actsofservice 

Credits 

Host: Tiffany Dunk 

Edited by Leah Porges 

Production by Leah Porges 

Our wonderful The Australian Women's Weekly team 

Our Head of Vodcasting is Rachel Fountain 

Learn More: The Australian Women's Weekly website 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Content Warning: This episode discusses suicide, mental health issues, grief and the loss of a parent and child to illness. If you or someone you know has been affected by any of the issues raised, help is always available. Call Lifeline on 13 11 14. 

Find more support services here: Need help? Support services and crisis helplines in Australia - The Australian Women's Weekly 

In 2009, Gavin Larkin sat his wife Maryanne and their closest friends down at the dinner table and told them about an idea he'd been carrying since his own father died by suicide years earlier. It was a simple question that could change everything: "Are you okay?" 

Allison "Ally" Langdon, a journalist and friend who was part of that conversation, knew instantly she had to help get the message out. What followed was R U OK? Day which has since grown into a national movement. But what followed was something that neither Ally nor Maryanne could have imagined. 

In this episode, Ally and Maryanne sit down with Tiffany Dunk to talk about the early, uncomfortable days of getting a newsroom to even say the word "suicide," what it actually looked like for Ally to show up for her friend in the hardest years of her life, and the quiet, everyday ways two women have held a friendship together, and a legacy alive, for close to two decades. 

Moments you'll hear: 

• The dinner table conversation in 2009 that became R U OK? Day 
• Why newsrooms wouldn't touch the word "suicide," and the pushback Ally got 
• Maryanne on losing both Gavin and her eldest son Gus, and why moving into her late son's bedroom with her two younger kids helped them all grieve 
• The small, practical ways Ally and their friend group showed up during the hardest years 
• What it means to keep telling stories about someone you've lost 
• Nearly 20 years on, what they still hope for each other 

Visit the R U OK? Day website here. 

Learn more about Ally and Maryanne's friendship in our exclusive interview here

Thank you for listening ❤️ 

Before you leave... 

🗣️ Get in touch 

What did you think? We are a brand-new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Love Stories community and visit us at womensweekly.com.au 

Email us your love stories (and any feedback) at [email protected] 

If you share your love story on social media please tag us, we're @womensweeklymag, and use the hashtag #AWWLoveStories 

Subscribe to The Australian Women's Weekly at www.womensweekly.com.au 👈🏽 

Our special thanks to our partners at Vixin 

Vixin real results, simple skincare that's a little bit fancy: vixin.com.au 

Use the code LOVESTORIES for 30% off your order at Vixin now! 

Sending thanks to our partners at Wounded Heroes. 

You can help Wounded Heroes deliver emergency assistance to current Australian Defence Force members, veterans and their families by donating at: www.woundedheroes.org.au/actsofservice 

Credits 

Host: Tiffany Dunk 

Edited by Phoebe Zukowski-Wallace 

Production by Leah Porges 

Our wonderful The Australian Women's Weekly team 

Our Head of Vodcasting is Rachel Fountain 

Learn More: The Australian Women's Weekly website. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ed Kavalee still remembers the exact moment he fell for his wife, and it happened on his TV screen, watching her compete as Angel on Gladiators. 

In this episode, Tiff Hall and Ed Kavalee sit down with Tiffany Dunk (or podcast Tiff as Ed calls her) to talk about how a TV crush turned into an 18-year love story, including the radio interview Ed engineered just to meet her, the moment he got cold feet six months in, and the blender that won her back. 

They also open up about becoming parents, Ed's own childhood without a father in the picture, and how that's shaped the kind of dad he wants to be. Plus, Tiff talks candidly about rebuilding her relationship with her body after having kids, and why she built a business helping other women do the same. 

Moments you’ll hear: 

• The night Ed first saw "Angel" on Gladiators, and his friend's prediction 
• The interview Ed engineered just to meet her (and the second one he asked for) 
• Their first date, and the book Ed used to test her sense of humour 
• The moment Ed got cold feet, and the gift that won Tiff back 
• Their engagement story – including a secretly pre-planned visit to a very famous jewellery store 
• Ed opening up about growing up without a dad, and what it means to him now 
• Tiff's journey to rebuilding her relationship with her body after having kids 

Find out more about Tiff’s self-defence classes here. 

Check out Tiff's work with 28 by Sam Wood here. 

Find Tiff Hall on Instagram here. 

Keep up with Ed Kavalee on Instagram here. 

Thank you for listening ❤️ 

Before you leave... 

🗣️ Get in touch 

What did you think? We are a new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Love Stories community and visit us at www.womensweekly.com.au  

Email us your love stories (and any feedback) at [email protected] 

If you share your love story on social media, please tag us @womensweeklymag and use the hashtag #AWWLoveStories 

Subscribe to The Australian Women's Weekly at www.womensweekly.com.au 👈🏽 

Our special thanks to our partners at Vixin 

Vixin: real results, simple skincare that's a little bit fancy: vixin.com.au 

Use the code LOVESTORIES for 30% off your order at Vixin now! 

Sending thanks to our partners at Wounded Heroes. 

You can help Wounded Heroes deliver emergency assistance to current Australian Defence Force members, veterans and their families by donating at: www.woundedheroes.org.au/actsofservice 

Credits: 

Host: Tiffany Dunk 

Edited by Leah Porges 

Production by Leah Porges 

Our wonderful The Australian Women's Weekly team 

Our Head of Vodcasting is Rachel Fountain 

Learn More: The Australian Women's Weekly website 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before Big Little Lies became a global phenomenon, Liane and Jaclyn Moriarty were just two sisters filling exercise books for pocket money, dreaming of becoming writers. 

In this episode, Liane and Jaclyn sit down with Tiffany Dunk to talk about the family that shaped them: a mother who fostered more than 50 babies, a father who paid them to write, and the safety of growing up as two of six kids who loved books more than television. 

They open up about the year Jaclyn was published first, the private rage Liane admits she felt, and what it took for her to finally sit down and write her own first novel. 

Plus, they reflect on the whirlwind of Big Little Lies becoming a Hollywood sensation, the sequel Big Little Truths, writing a role for Meryl Streep, and Jaclyn's newest release, Time Travel for Beginners. 

Moments you’ll hear: 

• Growing up as two of six kids, and their mum who fostered more than 50 babies 
• Their dad’s pocket-money scheme, and the story that started it all 
• The rage Liane felt when Jaclyn was published first, and who it was really aimed at 
• Reading Jaclyn’s first manuscript, and the years it took to write her own 
• The moment Big Little Lies became a Hollywood sensation 
• Writing a role for Meryl Streep, and the text that made it real 
• What they'd write for each other, if they could 

Check out Big Little Truths by Liane Moriarty here. 

Find Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty here.

Thank you for listening ❤️ 

Before you leave... 

🗣️ Get in touch 

What did you think? We are a new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Love Stories community and visit us at www.womensweekly.com.au  

Email us your love stories (and any feedback) at [email protected] 

If you share your love story on social media, please tag us @womensweeklymag and use the hashtag #AWWLoveStories 

Subscribe to The Australian Women's Weekly at www.womensweekly.com.au 👈🏽 

Our special thanks to our partners at Vixin 

Vixin: real results, simple skincare that's a little bit fancy: vixin.com.au 

Use the code LOVESTORIES for 30% off your order at Vixin now! 

Sending thanks to our partners at Wounded Heroes. 

You can help Wounded Heroes deliver emergency assistance to current Australian Defence Force members, veterans and their families by donating at: www.woundedheroes.org.au/actsofservice 

Credits: 

Host: Tiffany Dunk 

Edited by Phoebe Zukowski-Wallace 

Production by Leah Porges 

Our wonderful The Australian Women's Weekly team 

Our Head of Vodcasting is Rachel Fountain 

Learn More: The Australian Women's Weekly website 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Time to bless your feed with a new episode of our heartfelt new podcast, Love Stories, from The Australian Women's Weekly. Love Stories is about celebrating and appreciating love in all its forms. Think the stories behind how your favourite couples first met, siblings who have seen each other through thick and thin, parents and children and the deep bonds we have with our pets, and those who've loved, lost and learned to love themselves again. Find, follow and subscribe (or hit the +) to The Australian Women's Weekly Love Stories wherever you like to listen to or watch your podcasts: on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and more.  There's a gorgeous back catalogue for you to binge on and catch all the feels! Olympic sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell, Georgie Tunny and Rob Mills spill on babies and marriage, Matty and Esther Acton on being 40 year old grandparents, Katie Noonan on the grief of divorce, David and Lisa Campbell on their long marriage, Jess Row and Peter Overon, Julie and Mick Goodwin and so many more!

First, let us introduce you to Curtis and Rachel McGrath, who are part of our special Love Stories: Acts of Service series <3 (and who have some very special news to share about their family)

 

Content warning: This episode discusses combat injury, traumatic limb loss and newborn emergency surgery. If it raises anything for you, support is available: Wounded Heroes Australia crisis line 1300 532 112 (24/7 for ADF members, veterans and their families); Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling 1800 011 046 (24/7) | Lifeline 13 11 14 (24/7). 

Curtis McGrath was searching for landmines in Afghanistan when the ground beneath him changed his life forever. Two years into their relationship, Rachel was 1500km away when she got the call. 

In this episode, Curtis and Rachel sit down with Tiffany Dunk to talk about the day everything changed, the months of hospital treatment and rehab that followed, and the slow work of rebuilding a new normal.  

They open up about a proposal on top of a mountain in Canada, the wedding that scraped in just before COVID-19 hit, and becoming parents to a son whose own fight for life began just days after he was born. Plus, there's an exciting announcement about the newest addition to their family. 

To all veterans who may be watching or listening to this episode, we thank you for your service. 

Moments you'll hear: 

• Rachel and Curtis' first meeting, and the door that got shut in his face 
• The blunt question Rachel asked Curtis before he deployed 
• The day in 2012 when everything changed 
• The moment in hospital that made Curtis realise what life looked like now 
• Meeting Prince Harry at the Invictus Games, and what Curtis really thought of him 
• The proposal: a Banff Gondola, lots of stairs and a beautiful sunset 
• A diagnosis days after their son Monty was born 
• An exciting announcement about the newest addition to their family 

Thank you for listening ❤️ 

Before you leave...  

🗣️ Get in touch  

What did you think? We are a brand-new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Love Stories community and visit us at womensweekly.com.au/love-stories-podcast  

Email us your love stories (and any feedback) at [email protected]  

If you share your love story on social media, please tag us. We’re @womensweeklymag, and use the hashtag #AWWLoveStories 

Subscribe to The Australian Women’s Weekly at magshop.com.au/LOVESTORIES 👈🏽  

Sending thanks to our partners at Wounded Heroes Australia.  

You can help Wounded Heroes deliver emergency assistance to current Australian Defence Force members, veterans and their families by donating at: www.woundedheroes.org.au/actsofservice  

Need help now? Wounded Heroes crisis line 1300 532 112, 24/7, Australia wide. 

Credits 

Host: Tiffany Dunk 

Edited by Leah Porges 

Production by Leah Porges 

Our wonderful The Australian Women's Weekly team 

Our Head of Vodcasting is Rachel Fountain 

Learn more: The Australian Women's Weekly website

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You've been waiting on a new episode from us for a while! Let us make it up to you by treating you to this beautiful new podcast Love Stories, from The Australian Women's Weekly. Love Stories is about celebrating and appreciating love in all its forms. Think the stories behind how your favourite couples first met, siblings who have seen each other through thick and thin, parents and children and the deep bonds we have with our pets, and those who've loved, lost and learned to love themselves again. Find, follow and subscribe (or hit the +) to The Australian Women's Weekly Love Stories wherever you like to listen to or watch your podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and more.  There's a gorgeous back catalogue for you to binge on and catch all the feels! Olympic sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell, Georgie Tunny and Rob Mills spill on babies and marriage, Matty and Esther Acton on being 40 year old grandparents, Katie Noonan on the grief of divorce, David and Lisa Campbell on their long marriage, Jess Row and Peter Overon, Julie and Mick Goodwin and so many more! 

First, let us introduce you to Martin and Kim Shaw, who are part of our special Love Stories: Acts of Service series <3

 

Content warning: This episode discusses veteran suicide, family and domestic violence, PTSD, and severe financial hardship. If it raises anything for you, support is available: Wounded Heroes Australia crisis line 1300 532 112 (24/7, for ADF members, veterans and their families) | Open Arms — Veterans & Families Counselling 1800 011 046 (24/7) | Lifeline 13 11 14 (24/7) | 1800RESPECT 1800 737 732 (24/7). 

When a veteran or their family rings Wounded Heroes Australia at 2am, the voice on the other end is Martin Shaw. As the charity's president since 2011, he knows how impactful the voice on the phone can be. The words he says every time are the same ones that helped his wife fall for him: "Don't worry, I’ve got you.” 

Kim Shaw heard him say those words before she ever loved him. She was focusing on work and not looking for love. When he first asked her on a date, she initially turned him down. When he tried again, she said yes and they were married within 12 months – but Wounded Heroes remained a major focus. Martin even took a crisis call on their honeymoon, but Kim never flinched. 

Theirs is a quieter kind of love story: two people who have built a marriage around holding other families together. And it’s the perfect place to begin our Acts of Service series, a new monthly limited series from The Australian Women’s Weekly Love Stories in partnership with Wounded Heroes Australia.  

In this episode, Tiffany Dunk sits down with Martin and Kim to talk about the marriage behind Australia’s only national, 24/7, non-government funded veteran crisis service. 

They explain what a $6.10 prescription, a $100 fuel voucher or a pizza delivered on Anzac Eve actually buys. Not a solution. A night. One in twenty Australian households has someone who has served. In 2023, suicide was the leading cause of death among ex-serving ADF members. Martin and Kim are two of the people who pick up when those numbers turn into a phone call. 

And Martin makes the case that sits at the heart of this whole series: everyone who signs up to defend this country does it out of love. Their whole life, as he puts it, is actually built around love. 

Moments you’ll hear: 

• The words Martin says to every veteran who rings in crisis, and why Kim calls them the most comforting thing she has ever heard. 
• “You’re a flirt, I’m not interested”: the knockback, the chase down the office stairs, and the wedding twelve months later  
• The $1,000 a soldier’s wife handed back, and the ten-year-old boy whose PTSD diagnosis changed the course of Martin’s life.   
• The night a veteran rang from a pizza shop with no wallet, no phone and no car, and what $6.10 fixed the next morning. 
• Anzac Eve in a house with no electricity, where a soldier had pawned his medals and his children had agreed to sell their PlayStation. 
• Why Martin has lent his own charity close to half a million dollars, including his own  superannuation.  
• The two times of year Wounded Heroes braces for: Christmas with New Year, and Easter with Anzac Day. 
• Martin on what love actually means here: “You don’t have to wear a uniform to be a warrior”. 

Thank you for listening ❤️ 

Before you leave... 

🗣️ Get in touch 

What did you think? We are a brand-new podcast and would love to hear from you as we build this together. Join our friendly Love Stories community and visit us at womensweekly.com.au/love-stories-podcast 

Email us your love stories (and any feedback) at [email protected] 

If you share your love story on social media please tag us, we’re @womensweeklymag, and use the hashtag #AWWLoveStories 

Subscribe to The Australian Women’s Weekly at magshop.com.au/LOVESTORIES 👈🏽 

Sending thanks to our partners at Wounded Heroes. 

You can help Wounded Heroes deliver emergency assistance to current Australian Defence Force members, veterans and their families by donating at: www.woundedheroes.org.au/actsofservice 

Need help now? Wounded Heroes crisis line 1300 532 112, 24/7, Australia wide. 

Credits 

Host: Tiffany Dunk 

Edited by Leah Porges

Production by Leah Porges 

Our wonderful The Australian Women’s Weekly team 

Our Head of Vodcasting is Rachel Fountain 

Learn More: The Australian Women’s Weekly website 

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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are celebrating their 9th wedding anniversary this week and appear more in love than ever. So, how do Kate and Wills keep the spark alive? This week New Idea's Zoe Burrell and royal commentator Angela Mollard, discuss the secret to the couples happy marriage and how they might be celebrating in lockdown. Plus, we chat all about Prince Harry's new TV appearance and what this could mean for his future work, and Camilla' surprising exercise routine in lockdown. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.