Times are a changing

[Robin4]

I have been absent from here for the last few weeks because I have lost my wife of 48 years!

I don't mean she has died but, she has MS and has got to the point where I can't look after her in the family home any more. She has had to go into full time care and l have to say....I am struggling! When you have been together for 45 + years you become like a pair of comfortable old slippers....and it is terribly hard getting up in the morning and finding the mate to that slipper is missing!

I am coming back here because I need the company of Airbnb. I need the strength of those I have talked to for the past few years...I need to leave my issues behind for a few hours every now and then.

I am probably going to make some bad judgement calls dependant on my mood! I have always tried to put a silver lining on every cloud that appeared on the Airbnb horizon but I guess there are going to be times when I want to lash out and tell some enquiring individual to F..... off!

The listing is going great, I am averaging around 8 Airbnb bookings per month, and I have now stopped using any other hosting alternatives, and I am so thankful for the wonderful guests that Airbnb have brought into my life.

Without Airbnb I would be in a bloody deep hole at the moment....but with Airbnb, every day I see a new horizon, a new challenge, a new experience.

I hope we can all get beyond the negativity which we see so much of and concentrate on what we are all here for....to make a buck, and at the same time, make a friend!

Cheers.......Rob

[Robin4]

@Isabel203

Hey thanks but it is mostly good.

A year ago a mate of mine posted a video of himself doing a bungee jump off a bridge in New Zealand and i could not let this go unchallenged so I posted a video of myself and youngest daughter Kate jumping out of a perfectly good aeroplane here at Monato.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO39w91qntI

I had to say something about this and I had a few days before seen that Morgan Freeman/Jack Nicholson film, 'The Bucket List' and I suddenly realised....of the 14 things on that bucket list, I have done 12 of those.

Now sure, some of them are a bit subjective! 

'To help a perfect stranger for the common good'....well that's what I do at Meals on Wheels, we cook 60-80 meals a day for people who can't cook for themselves any more!

'To kiss the most beautiful woman in the world'....lets face it we men have all done that.

The only two things on that bucket list I have not done....

I have not seen the Taj Mahal....and, I have not been buried on top of a mountain!

And I sure hope the first comes before the second!!!

Cheers.....Rob

[Michael1458]

Dear Robin,

We live nearby and are very new to AirBnB.  If you are ever in Albany it would be good to get to know you.  Let us know if you are in need of a good coffee?

Blessings from Mike and Tracey

[Robin4]

@Michael1458

Hey I have never made it all the way across the Nullabor, wanted to many times but the furthest west I ever got was Rawlinna! I was originally a wool classer and classed Rawlinna station in 1967 for Stockowners Shearing and Byron McLaughlan. The year I was there they shore 81,000 sheep on Rawlinna....not too many single pastoral holdings around the world in that size range!

Thanks for your comments Mike and Tracey, I would love to take you up on that offer one day.

Congratulations on joining Airbnb, I hope it will be as kind, satisfying and lucrative to you as it has been to me.

All the best.......Rob

[Michael1458]

Dear Robin,

Sorry I was thinking Mount Barker, WA!  This is only 50Km away.

So funny.  We have visited near you, but we'd hired a mobile home so never looked at AirBnB.

Bless you

From Mike and Tracey

[Robin4]

@Michael1458

Well, we are still virtually neighbours Tracey.

There is something about being an Aussie, isn't there!

We had an Italian student stay with us for 10 weeks in 2016 and we decided to take her into the outback to show her the real Australia. I had bragged to her that here in the southern hemisphere, if you get into a 'dark sky site' you can actually read a book by starlight alone. This happens because from here in the southern hemisphere we actually look into the centre of our galaxy and we see an intensity of starlight that is not visible in the northern hemisphere. Having made that statement I had to prove it so, we took Auri up into the Flinders Ranges.

Once we past Port Augusta and were heading towards Hawker I said to Auri...."you watch what happens when we pass the next car going in the oposite direction".....A few minutes went by and a car headed towards us, and as we passed he gave me a wave and I gave him one as well....That is what Aussies do, we will acknowledge perfect strangers with a wave or a 'Hi'

I have heard about Mt Barker in the west and I would love to visit!

Cheers.....Rob

[Kelly149]

@Robin4 Thank you for always sharing so honestly, you have helped many people with your humor and wisdom. I hope now that we can all be a help to you as you've shared this struggle with us. The CC isn't the same without you so I do hope that you will continue to pop in and encourage others and let others encourage you. My sympathies as you grieve and adjust and also best wishes for peace to both you and your wife as you navigate this new normal.

[Robin4]

@Kelly149

Thanks Kelly, I am showing all these responses to Ade and although we have a large circle of friends, such  heartfelt messages from people we have never met from around the world do mean a lot.

When you have a long term illness (and I am sure other long term sufferers will agree with me here) you have to 'suffer in silence'! 

If you get run over by a car, fall off the ladder, have a gall bladder removed, get hit in the ear with a golf ball....everyone is vitally interested in all the gritty details! It is an event that time heals, and we all move on.

But people do tire over time asking the same old questions......'how are you feeling'.....they don't really want to know, but feel they should ask. Even had one woman say one night..."Oh don't talk about that, it puts a downer on the night"! So you avoid talking about it, and in public, make as many of the symptoms disappear to some extent....and you suffer in silence.

You also have to have a very black sense of humour to see you through! One night we were out at the movies with friends and our seats involved the climbing of a curved flight of stairs and everyone could see Ade struggling with the stairs and the handrail and you could see her personal effort. Ade is fiercely independant and others discomfort was evident so I said in a reasonably loud voice..."Oh come on you old cripple"!! Everyone had a disgusted chuckle and it relieved the tension, took the focus off Ade and she was able to get on with what she had to do.

I bring that up Kelly because all your comments make it real for us to have other people actually talk about it to us instead of sweeping it under the rug!

I will over time answer all these comments because you all deserve it, you have all been so kind!

Cheers.....Rob

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

Dear @Robin4 we are sorry to hear that... and wish you and Ade all the best .... ❤ ❤