Finally!
Hello everybody and welcome to the new look FINALLY AT 40, and to my first edition. It's been quite a journey. It was on New Year's day that I committed the following words to paper – write more, write articles for newspapers and magazines. A month later I was in a meeting with Jenny Jacob and from that day on, I was a member of the At last, FINALLY AT 40 LIFE BEGINS™ team.
It's been fabulous meeting and working with Jenny Jacob, Chrissy Fraser and getting to know the women who have been so generous in sharing the stories that feature in this autumn issue.
All these stories start with a fundamental element. A family. Functional or not, we've all got one, and will always be part of one. Our families leave a stamp on us that stay with us for the rest of our lives and that stamp has good and bad aspects to it. In the end, no matter what has happened to us, we are the ones who have the power to change, and grow and for the most part, eventually we all realize this truth. If we don't have the power to change ourselves, and our circumstance, no one can.
Our 'cover girl' Ludwina describes the challenges she faced growing up in a family that was both her own, and not her own. How does one belong to a family knowing the biological father is no longer a participant in that world, and in turn, how does this reality affect perceptions of ourselves in the world beyond family? Read all about it on page 6.
Stephanie's story on page 40 is a similar tale of an absent father, with the added difficulties that a hostile stepfather can bring to a young life.
Although Robyn enjoyed the mixed blessings being a member of an iconic grape growing and wine producing family, from the iconic Hunter Valley, she too had to face a truly difficult shift in her family's structure when both her parents were killed in a light aeroplane accident. See page 16.
All three have become the women they are through facing their adversities in a diverse number of ways, and yet, courage, hard work, good faith and a desire to make their lives all they can be all figure large in each of these success stories. Once again, ladies, thank you for having the courage to open the family closets because your generous honesty is likely to provide us with insight into the challenges we have or may face in the future.
We cannot live on words alone, so this month we're including some autumnal recipes to liven up your dining tables. Enjoy!
And of course, there's the chance to have a giggle with Chrissy on page 3, meet your inner critic with Ida on page 48 and get smart about your man's libido on page 34, or hand him Bert's article for his reading, … if you dare!
Til next time!
Anna North
Editor
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