Machita shares her experience as a mother of autistic children as they reach adulthood.
Fabafterfifty: Fabwomen
We all know women who inspire us to take a look at our own lives. ‘Fabwomen’ is all about introducing women who have not been afraid to try something new or different, and who’ve overcome their own fears or limitations and followed their dreams, whether stepping outside their comfort zone to take up new interests or pursue a new career or relationship.
We hope our Fabwomen’s stories will motivate all of us to try at least one thing new!
If you have a friend, colleague or family member, whose experiences in their fifties could inspire others, why not nominate them for a future Fabwomen feature!
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Article by Ceri Wheeldon While some mothers dread the day their children fly the nest and leave home, there are others who know that life for them, and their , will not be quite so straightforward. Similarly , where for most families, Christmas is a time for coming together, socialising, and breaking the daily routine, there are families where any change in routine can bring about problems. Christmas and children with autism Machita has twin sons, both with aspergers syndrome who are just turning 18. For their family, Christmas has always meant sticking to a normal daily routine, and avoiding surprises. No surprises from Santa under the tree when the boys were growing up, but gifts they had been shown and knew were wrapped and waiting with their names on under the tree. Family Christmases are still special, but managed in a different way to that of most other families....
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‘Gap Years are wasted on the young’ says Jo as she shares her Gap Year experience
Article by Jo Carroll It was a chance headline in The Guardian, one wet August morning, that got me thinking. Yes, I decided, gap years are wasted on the young. At the time the leap from that to doing it myself, on my own, in my mid-50s, seemed logical. What was to stop me? My daughters had flown; my husband and parents had died; work – well, thirty years in Child Protection is long enough for anyone. Organising my gap year It took two years to organise. I use the term lightly – the leaving was organised. I had contracts to complete; I packed up my house and let it out; I sold my car. If my daughters (I have four) were worried they were generous enough to keep that to themselves. Which doesn’t mean I didn’t have fantasies of spending the year in a hotel at Heathrow and blogging...
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Mariam, overcoming illness and becoming a published author in her 50s
Article by Ceri Wheeldon When Mariam Kobras turned 50, and found she had time to herself for the first time. Having been a typical stay at home ‘soccer mum’, Mariam’s children no longer needed her. So what were her options? There was an empty auditorium at the school Mariam’s husband taught at. Mariam suggested to the headteacher that perhaps she could teach a theatre class – she was given the keys and told she could do as she pleased. However, the auditorium had not been used in ages. The theatre had no props, and there was no money. Mariam decided the best show to start with was Chorus Line- as it was the play she could think of requiring the fewest props. Even though it was a school production, permission still needed to be sought to perform it. It wasn’t forthcoming. Mariam corresponded with legal department after legal department. With...
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Lillian, Celebrated her 60th Birthday with a Parachute Jump
Article by Fabafterfifty. Following a health scare Lillian decided to celebrate her landmark birthday in a very special way, and raised money for a good cause at the same time! Can you tell us a little about yourself? I was 60 on the 3rd August, I am married to Dave and have two adult children aged 42 and 37, and a Grandson of 21. I retired from fulltime Teaching in 2009 after a long term sickness through surgery- a Nephrectomy when a small tumour was diagnosed on my kidney. I had time to reflect and think about what I would like to do now. What prompted you to start fundraising for Cancer Recovery? I felt I wanted to do something different to celebrate my 60th after the scare I felt with the diagnosis, a Parachute jump seemed to be a great idea and it made sense to do it to...
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Sally from Banking to Baking- Opening a Tea Room
Article by Fabafterfifty It’s never too late to follow your passions and fulfil your dreams. Since leaving her job in a bank, Sally has worked in an estate agency, set up a lettings company and used her artistic talents to make cards and jewellery. A visit to an exhibition in London a few years ago led her one step closer to following her childhood dream- of opening an old-fashioned tea shop! Said Sally “ My friend and I noticed a very long queue, being curious I just had to see what everyone was waiting for. It was cupcakes! They were beautifully decorated . I immediately turned to my friend and said ‘I can make those’! I returned home to my kitchen and started to bake. A cousin in Canada sent me a book of Martha Stewart’s cupcakes and off I set to bake. Friends and neighbours were bombarded with cupcakes...
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Suzanne Dando, on her Life at 50 and How Older is Wiser
Interview by Ceri Wheeldon Former Olympic gymnast, TV presenter Suzanne Dando talks to Fabafterfifty about her life at 50. How did you feel approaching your 50th birthday? What struck me was how different I felt approaching 50 to how I felt when I approached my 40th birthday. In the latter part of my 40s I was aware that I was feeling different physically. My 40th didn’t bother me at all, but my 50th felt quite different. I started going through the menopause at the end of my 40s and had some debilitating days which I didn’t enjoy one bit and have to admit to feeling slightly depressed over. As a broadcaster, producers/bosses have in the past, inquired how old I am. It would be good for women to be judged on ability and not just how they look on the eye. It seems younger faces are wanted on TV. I...
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Sharon, loses 8 stone and becomes a model in her 50s
Guest article by Sharon Williamson. I’m 54 years old and live in Loughton, Essex. I was married at the age of 31 but am now separated and in a long-term relationship with my current partner Michael, a property investor who also works as an actor and professional model. How has your life changed since you were 50? After meeting my husband in my late 20s, I got into a much more routine way of life as a lot of women do after they settle down. Cooking meals for myself and my husband, eating out more often and just generally getting complacent led to me gaining an increasing amount of weight in my 30s and 40s to the point where I tipped the scales at an incredible 19 stone by the time I reached my late 40s. At 5’7” tall, my Body Mass Index (BMI) was a morbidly obese 42 and...
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Zoe, Britain’s Best Travel Blogger !
Guest article by Zoe Dawes Zoe Dawes, 56, our latest Fabwoman, followed her dream to leave corporate life and become a travel blogger I’m a travel writer and blogger, living in NW England on Lancashire – Cumbria border with my teenage son and a couple of cats. Single mum from choice – great friends with my ex, Alex’s dad, who lives in a nearby village. Originally from Southport, I love the Lake District which is on our doorstep and spend a lot of time wandering this beautiful area. How has life changed for you since you were 50? It’s changed dramatically and all for the best. I’m finally doing what I wanted to do since I was a little girl – write and travel. Everything is more fun now; I wake up looking forward to each day, never knowing where an email or phone call might take me. Being an older...
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Lesley Pearse -From Accidental Bunny Girl to Best Selling Author
Article by Fabafterfifty Author Lesley Pearse’s own life story almost reads like a novel in itself! Her success as a novelist came in her 50s, showing that reinvention is always possible- especially when you are following your dream! Lesley has sold more than 4 million copies of her books to date. What was life like as a Bunny Girl? I hadn’t planned on becoming a Bunny Girl. It was purely accidental! I was sharing a flat in London with some other girls- one had seen an ad and was going for an audition at the Playboy Club- she asked me to go along to lend some moral support. I did. She didn’t get the job – I did! Not something my friend was too happy about at the time, but we got over it and we’re still friends! Life as a Bunny Girl was all fairly innocent in those days. But...
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The Adventures of Eve – 2 women over 60 start their own show
Article by Deirdre Dee Two feisty and talented women , both in their sixties , not ready to retire, combine their acting and producing skills to create their own show. Deirdre tells their story: How the The Adventures of Eve, a new two woman show, came about! Two actresses, Leonie Wilde and Deirdre Dee, that’s us or at least those are our professional stage names, first met many years ago, in a summer season show in Devon, and kept in touch via a mutual friend throughout the next 40 years! Coincidentally, we both ’retired’ to the West Country a couple of years ago, and discovered, that although we had scaled down our theatrical work since leaving London, we had both kept up our additional careers……Leonie as Drama Examiner and Vocal coach, and Deirdre as a Coach and Business Mentor. This was to be enough work we both said. But somehow, after one...
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