Kay Thomas
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I married a Dane and lived in Denmark for 10 years, lived and worked that is. I have a daughter who has severe schizophrenia. She lives in a home in Denmark and I visit her once a year or so. I have some lovely friends from my time in Denmark and some very good memories. The photo above is of myself and Hanne - who is a lifelong friend from Danmark, taken in Nyhavn in 2006. I also completed a degree at the University of Copenhagen - magister scientiarum socialum.

I returned to Australia in 1981 and worked for a number of years as a social worker in the mental health field before completing a PhD in medical sociology at the University of Queensland. I was Director of Crime Prevention Research at the Queensland University of Technology for 6 years before getting very ill with cancer. I got back into work but decided to retire at 50 and now run a small hostel for students. Life is Good. I have a great home in the inner city surrounded by some lovely people and good friends, not to mention a baby grand and a Japanese garden.

I look forward to spending the rest of my live here. It was not what I had envisaged as 'success' when I was young. A reunion like the one you have instigated brings up a lot of thoughts and emotions in people. Some are still worrying about how they might be judged by others in the small town of Bundaberg - which is now only a figment of our collective memories, just as the Denmark I knew in the seventies no longer exists in reality. I am happy with what I did achieve in my working life, although it seemed to end too quickly, almost before it had begun. I am even happier now that I realize that the trappings of success (career job, hubby of 35 years duration, several successful kids) would have made me tired and worn out at my age - 57 - whereas now I can wake up each morning looking forward to the day. The most successful thing I have done is learned to accept myself and increasingly accept each day as it comes.

Created: 21 September 2006 - Last Amended: 21 September 2006 by Roger Clarke - Site Last Verified: 15 February 2009
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