We had sold our home and scheduled the removalists to come in to transfer furniture. Then, the cleaners were due, and the handover was set for a couple of days later.
Everything was scheduled thanks to the efficiency of my better half.
Then, the evening before the furniture guys were due to arrive, they cancelled on us. It was a big blow during an already stressful period of downsizing.
But that's when something good happened. In a desperate ring around, another removalist said he'd be happy to help.
He genuinely wanted to atone for the failings of some in his industry, and he repeatedly apologised for our disappointment. We've since used him for multiple large and small moving jobs.
In doing so, we've come to know him and his family. While they are a bit older than us, one of the amazing things they do is foster children.
They are now on the 12th foster child, and their tales make you realise just how much good (and bad) there is in this world.
The good is summarised by the autistic child who spent the first six years of his life living in a car.
Now fostered with our friend, he's learned to use a knife and fork, can put on shoes, and lives a close-to-normal life. He attends a regular school daily, and we were proudly told about how well he is doing with his new family.
That a child has to spend six years living in a car is an appalling situation in this country, but at least they now have an opportunity - thanks to these generous and caring folks.
That story is then tempered by the insanity of the system.
We were told of the time they fostered a young Aboriginal girl who was doing amazingly well. She was bright and doing well at school.
Then, when she was 12, some spark in some government department said she needed to be returned to the 'community' in remote South Australia.
The girl told the court she didn't want to go back, and there were multiple descriptions of the risks she would face as a young girl in Aboriginal lands.
Irrespective of her wishes (and the opinions of others), she was sent back, and the foster parents haven't been able to contact her since.
Now, I don't know how she's doing (neither do they), but anyone who has spent time in some of these communities knows many young boys and girls are subject to all manner of abuse.
As one health worker in an Aboriginal community told me, the children come in one day, and the light in their eyes is gone.
But here's the thing.
If a five-year-old can decide they are a trannie, and a ten-year-old can take hormone blockers, why can't a twelve-year-old girl choose to stay in a loving and safe environment rather than be sent back to a predatory environment?
To me, this anecdote demonstrates both the best of people and the worst of the 'system'.
Thought for the Day
“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” John Bunyan
Cory Bernardi is the author of seven books and has been a member of the Australian rowing team, a publican, an investment portfolio manager and spent nearly 14 years as an Australian Senator.
