60 in 60. #4 Sophie

 60 in 60. #4 Sophie

I am reflecting on the last 60 years, and writing 60 blog posts in 60 days. 30 about people and 30 about events and experiences.

 

My Favourite Daughter was born on March 24 1989 in Perth. We all fell in love with Sophie at first sight. She became a curly haired toddler who adored her big brother (she called him Zach de wowwow, a nickname that still gets used occasionally) and, as was the fashion at the time, I took hours of video of the kids playing together. They were always entertaining and funny and if it weren’t for the fact they both liked to run around in the nude a lot, the videos would be great family entertainment. One of the things I treasure and most long for is for my children to be close and to love one another. As they were growing up there was a particularly strong bond between Sophie and Paul who is eight years younger than her. I have a stack of beautiful photos that reflect their love for one another.

 

Sophie was a model student for the first few years of primary school but when she reached a certain age and joined a particular group of friends she went off track a bit. Adolescence was a little rocky as her rebellious side kicked in. Nothing too serious but a bit of a jolt for us with our faith and ideals about family and raising kids. As I reflect on it now her non-conformist ways shouldn’t have surprised me, I was the rebel in my nuclear family. I did much worse stuff than Sophie ever did when I was a teenager, so much so that I was sent to live with Dad and Julie when I was 13. 

Sophie was working out who she was and didn’t necessarily want to be what we wanted. She moved out of home earlier than we expected but proved to be capable of looking after herself independently. She is sensitive and compassionate, creative and enterprising. She has inherited my scrounging genes and regularly finds treasures and bargains at op shops and on Gumtree.

Now, a few years down the track she is exactly what we want, a beautiful loving daughter with two gorgeous kids of her own. Friendship and connection to people has always been paramount to Soph and the relationships she developed in her late teens and twenties are strong and enduring, she is deeply loved and valued by her friends, all the more so now as together they’ve entered the next stage of life, becoming parents themselves.

 

Before that happened though, Sophie’s creativity blossomed through photography. She took beautiful and thoughtful pictures and her camera opened her up to the world, as a subject and as a place to explore. She studied at a photographic school in Melbourne and then had the good fortune to move into Swan Lake, a share house in Reservoir, where she met a steady stream of beautiful, interesting and creative people. That led to a trip to France to photograph her friends’ wedding and her first adventures in far away places, including a whirlwind stopover in China. She went back to Europe the following year to test the waters of a relationship with a young man from France but it didn’t work out.

What did work out was meeting Mikey to whom she is now married and together they have Matilda (Tilly) 3, and Corwin who was born in March this year. 

 

They lived in the rainforest area near Mullumbimby for a couple of years but I’m pleased to say they recently returned to live in Melbourne which makes grandparenting a lot easier.

Sophie shares many characteristics with her mum, including an uncomfortable level of worry and anxiety. There are challenges and stresses to deal with and the added responsibility of being a young mum sometimes weighs heavily upon her. Carolyn is always ready and willing to offer help and support and Sophie is grateful that ‘Ama’ is there and a source of love and encouragement for her and the grandchildren. I enjoy seeing the way Sophie loves and cares for her family, her love and connection with Mikey and her gentle and committed care for her kids. She is everything I could hope for as a daughter and I love her dearly. I’m pretty fond of Mikey too 