Living in her own home, Anne credits MePACS for allowing her to be independent and continue her talents without worrying about what would happen if she needed emergency help.
“My children were worried about me and wanted me to feel safe while I live independently. But I tell them this is my happy place – I love my garden, and I can write my poetry and continue with my artistic interests.”
At 86, Anne has lived independently for some years and is quite grateful to have MePACS looking out for her.
“A few months ago I had a fall in the Dining Room. I don’t remember the fall itself, but I woke up in a pile of kindling – I had broken one of a set of my grandmother’s dining chairs.”
“I was in quite a lot of pain but thankfully able to press my MePACS personal alarm and they organised an ambulance to take me to hospital. It turned out that I had broken some ribs and was to spend a few weeks in rehabilitation before coming home.”
“After the fall I thought of my daughter, who loved the dining setting, and now there will now be one chair missing from the complete set.”
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With fine brushstrokes and a steady hand, our client Anne has a remarkable eye for detail and design when it comes to her watercolour masterpieces.
Anne can crochet and embroider, but it is with a paint palette and easel that she is most at home. Her paintings have featured in town collections, exhibitions and graced the walls of many homes in Australia and overseas.
“I have never attended an art class in my life. My late husband and I ran a dairy farm for some years and I raised four children along the way. I was 40 when I started painting with watercolours, and it grew from there.”
In one of her paintings, soft yellow hues blend the outline of a marshland, the home of a family of Ibis, while striped gum trees provide shade and shelter to early European settlers in another.
Anne’s art is inspired by the beauty of the Australian bush landscape, particularly that of the Murray River Region where she lived – the tall timber of the Gunbower State Forest, the slow winding trail of Gunbower Creek and the lakes and marshes of the Kerang area.
“I am particularly attracted to painting native bird life, and it is so wonderful to be taken by boat through the lakes and watch their natural behaviour from a distance. I take these memories home with me and put it on canvas.”
Anne has recently published a book named Sunshine and Shadows, which contains the story of her life, prose and paintings.
While Anne is working on her second book, she enjoys the comfort and security that MePACS provides in her life, whether she is at home or out and about.
“MePACS is just brilliant. The response team are very friendly and reliable and it is so reassuring for them to check in when I forget to press the daily call button. I talk to them as if they are here with me and their support is especially important to have when you live alone,” she said.
“One of the main attributes of MePACS is that when you are in trouble, and you press the alarm, a person answers, not a Computer!”