Cancer has become very much in the forefront of our minds again recently.... we are devastated that Meg's beautiful friend Evie lost her bravely fought fight with this hideous disease on September 15th. She was only 11 years old. NOTHING can prepare you for that. It's just so wrong on every level that a wonderful, life-loving, magnificent child like Evie should have to leave her family, and in such a cruel way, and that her beautiful parents will now spend their lives in a grief-filled prison. The day after beautiful Evie passed away, we lost another of the gorgeous girls who had been battling. Tayla; aged 16 - stunning, articulate, a gentle soul. Gone. This meant that we as a family attended two children's funerals in two days. Totally and utterly unbelievable.... This is the reality of childhood cancer. And it scares me so much.
Having experienced these two amazing young girls, in life and in death, our lives have changed as a result. I'm 45 years old and Evie's funeral was the first child's funeral I have ever been to. I NEVER want to have to go to another. Ellie and Meg are 15 and 12 and they've been to two in two days. How can that NOT affect you? Meg is such a closed book and keeps things very much to herself most of the time, but she just didn't know what to do with her feelings. And I was lost as to how to help her. In the end I suggested that she write something down, which she did, and it broke my heart. To read about her pain, her fears, her anger, her sadness. It just seems so unfair that she has to go through this. And lovely Ellie.....she's feeling all those things too..... As much as she fights with Meg, she loves her much more and is so fearful that she may lose her one day. Cancer makes everyone so vulnerable...
We continue to battle with the Immigration Department and have recently heard that in spite of Meg being in remission for 16 months and in spite of them extending the decision time for our Permanent Residency by another 6 months to see how Meg's health went, she apparently still doesn't meet their criteria... I couldn't believe what they were telling me. What did they want to happen during that extra 6 months? She stayed well and in remission. Wasn't that what they wanted to hear? Could there have been a better result after 6 months?? NO! I feel like they're just dangling our whole lives on the end of a swinging string. They can either allow us to continue living in a country, a house and a community that we call HOME or they can totally turn our lives upside-down and inside-out and tell us to leave. All because my then 9 year old daughter was unlucky enough to get cancer two years after we arrived in Australia. So we now have to put a case together to state why we think we would be good people to keep in Australia. They want to know what assets we have, savings, property etc...I'll find out more when the huge amount of paperwork hits our doorstep. We've done all this, several times. We filled out the copious forms, we've paid the extortionate application fee, we've been patient....very.....and now they want more. So more we will give them. We will continue to cross our "t's" and dot our "i's", to be patient, and to try not to let it affect us too badly (although this is getting harder and harder), AND we will fight. As part of the fight we have an online petition running, asking for support from people who either know us, know of us, or are just human beings who can see the injustice in this. The link to the petition is http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/keep-the-stanley-family-in-australia/ Please feel free to sign it!
I think that's enough for now. Who knows what the next posting will say....
Jane xxx
Beautiful Angels Evie and Tayla
xxxxxxx
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