My name is Kirsten, and I moved from South Africa to Canada in 2000. I have two sons and one husband, and I am self-employed as a writer. I like running, coffee, wine and books. I dislike cabbage, lentils, Canadian winters and rudeness.
My husband is Gerard. Back in 2001, when I was on the rebound from a bad break-up, I was sitting in a park. A stranger came and sat beside me, handed me some flowers purchased from the stall across the road, and told me I had beautiful eyes. The rest, as they say, is history.
George was born in September, 2003. He is the sweetest boy, full of love and hugs and sunlight. He has a smile that lights up the hardest of hearts, and the most infectious laugh I have ever heard. In George’s case, it really is “Laugh and the world laughs with you”. When George was three and a half, he was diagnosed with autism. But through effective intervention, great community support and lots of perseverance and hard work, he has made fantastic progress. There are many, many challenges, but there are also many, many moments of celebration and triumph.
James came flying into the world like a cannonball on Christmas Day, 2005. He is bundle of dynamite, with an imagination that takes him to all kinds of places. He is vibrant and social, full of opinions that he is not afraid to express and questions he is not afraid to ask. He adores his brother, and will not let anyone mess with his George. James, like his brother, is full of love and kindness. He sometimes has a rough go of it, being the brother of a child with autism, but we are working hard to give him the support and tools to cope with being a little brother with a big brother’s role.
