Editor’s letter
Iwas sitting with my husband, Tom, at a large table filled with puzzle pieces watching my mum and stepmum share a joke with my sister and our father. In the background, my brother-in-law was preparing dinner while my daughter chased her cousins around the kitchen. We were away for a long weekend in the country, pre-lockdown, and in that moment I was truly content.
On paper it shouldn’t work – there’s a seven-year age gap between my daughter and her cousins, my mum is sharing a house with her ex-husband and his new wife and Tom is a creative Brit among games-mad Aussies – but somehow it does. Don’t get me wrong, we are far from perfect, but we have learnt that any issues we have are worth overcoming. Life can certainly feel complicated at times, but as our cover star Maggie Tabberer puts it in her insightful chat with Juliet Rieden (page 20), the key to happiness is pretty simple: “It’s all about friends, family and laughter”. At 84, and having experienced life from its highest highs to its lowest lows, Maggie has certainly learnt a thing or two about the human condition, including the telltale sign that your partner is cheating (hint: check their underwear drawer!).
Maggie isn’t the only remarkable Australian we caught up with for this issue. We also tracked down some of our most inspiring and impressive Olympics hopefuls (page 30). Their stories of passion, sacrifice and achievement will leave you breathless and, if you’re anything like me, have you reaching for the tissues when we finally get to cheer them on at the Tokyo Games.
In what continues to be one of the strangest and most unpredictable times of our lives, I hope you find some contentment and joy in life’s simple pleasures – and in the pages of your favourite magazine!