It's 2013. I'm 34, living and working in Burnie and loving life! Work was great, I had a very satisfying role as Operations Manager at Zest Wealth Advisers and had been there for just over 4 years. I was renting a small unit in Burnie, funnily enough over the road from the first house I lived in as a baby! I went walking most days and had PT group and 1:1 sessions with John Lakeland. In my spare time I hung out with my friends Trudi & Rach, went down to Mum's at Sisters Beach, spent time with my mate Fe & her kids and when Dad was home would head to Hobart to see him & Deb. My brother James was somewhere off overseas at the time working as a private chef on the super yachts. Life was good and I had no idea that it was the year that would change the direction of my life. I was starting to wonder if I'd meet anyone in little old Burnie, most of the single people I knew, or knew someone they knew or they were an ex of someone I knew! 😂
In the May of 2013 a friend, Al, passed away from a battle with melanoma. He was far too young. In the latter part of 2012 Trudi tried to set Al & I up! We conversed via text as he was working away at the time, but when we met, there was no "spark" for romance, but a friendship was definitely formed. I last saw Al in the February when we spent some time together down at Sisters Beach. I never got to say goodbye, but I am grateful for that time we shared and always look back on it fondly.
I went to Al's funeral with some friends. It was a huge turnout as expected. At the wake I was catching up with Narelle when I got introduced to Billy. He was enjoying some of the local homemade Savoury Toast (if you're Tasmanian you know!) and said on our introduction "oh you're Hutchy's sister". Turns out we had a lot of friends in common but had never met ourselves. He told me he came over from Perth with his mate Kynan, but had to fly back early the next day to get his daughter. We briefly conversed some more before going our separate ways.
At the time, I was going through a couple of personal things so didn't think too much of the meeting with Billy. He added me on Facebook and we started sending a few messages back & forth. Part of these conversations were about me never having visited Perth before. I had some other friends living there at the time too and after a month or so of chatting it was decided I'd go over for a holiday. I thought to myself I had nothing to lose, and friends to stay with should he & I not get along, AND it was a chance for a holiday to go somewhere new.
Upon arriving in Perth we hit the pub for a couple of drinks then went back to Billy's place. His housemate was moving out that weekend so we shared pizzas & drinks with her & her boyfriend. It was an easy going environment and a nice chilled way for us to feel each other out! The next day I met his daughter for the first time. She was 3 and quite shy but once I told her I had bought her presents she soon warmed to me! I then left to stay with my friends for a couple of his nights whilst he had his daughter. Later in the week we did a road trip to Margaret River. Had a great place to stay at through Billy's work and did a winery tour with mainly international travellers ending up at the pub in town. It was great fun and we had such a great time together and lots of laughs. On our last night there Billy really opened up to me about some of his internal mental struggles, how hard it was not seeing his daughter all the time and that he wasn't sure if he was ready for anything new with anyone. It brought about a shift in our relationship sharing that kind of information but for both of us it was important to be honest.
I was sad to leave Perth. I had enjoyed my time there but things were up in the air with Billy and I. Our only commitment was to keep chatting and go from there. Around a month or so after I had returned home he was appearing conflicted with his ex (even though she had a new partner) and said that he needed time to think about things. For the first time in my life I gave the space that was asked for! It wasn't long and Billy contacted me again and the conversation soon shifted to future plans. There was a vague discussion about Billy coming to Tassie in December (as it was his turn for Christmas without his daughter). We were both unhappy with our weight & fitness so we set a 10kg challenge - something for us to focus on and inspire each other from near opposite sides of the country.
In around the November of 2013 after being in more contact with each other quite regularly, (felt like I as back in high school chatting on the phone - it was the best way to get to know each other!) we discussed what the future could look like. As Billy's daughter was in WA, he didn't want to move away from there. So I suggested I move over to Perth and we see what happens! A big step to take at age 34 but I wasn't afraid of trying and if things didn't work out I would turn around and come home. I gave notice at work and started the process of finding something in Perth. Billy booked flights to come to Tassie for Christmas and spend it with my family. It was a comfort to him that he knew my brother and it would be less of a daunting experience!
By the time Billy arrived in Tassie a couple of days before Christmas I was 2 dress sizes smaller having smashed the challenge and had lost closer to 15kg! Billy arrived hungover from a big night with his ex-housemate and her boyfriend!! I had most of my place packed up as the date was set for me to move to Perth, the day after my birthday, on the 9th of January 2014. We headed off down the East Coast to have Christmas with Dad, Deb, my brother and Deb's children and granddaughter. We had a great time down there and went to The Taste of Tasmania for New Year's Eve & still to this day it is the best NYE I've ever had. After that we went back up the NW Coast and went down to Sisters Beach so Billy could meet Mum and see where my heart is forever attached to, having grown up there.
Billy flew back to Perth a few days before I was due to leave Tassie. Leaving me to finish packing up my life and say goodbye to family and friends. I had a massive farewell / birthday celebration down at Boat Harbour with all my nearest and dearest. Getting on the plane that morning to fly to Perth was one of the hardest but also one of the most natural things I had done. I was leaving behind my entire life (except for some friends & family in other states), a great job and boss, familiarity and protection, but I knew if I didn't go I would regret it.
I had a few people question what I was doing, people close to me that I know were asking because they cared, but I was saddened that they didn't fully support my decision. In one of our phone calls Billy and I talked about people saying "what if it doesn't work out?" to which our response was "but what if it does?"
Life is all about taking chances and I'm glad I met Billy back on that bittersweet day in 2013.
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