Wow! I was so surprised when I got up this morning and logged on to Strokenet and my log-in was wrong! What is this! I can't log in, oh no! But it wasn't bad news and once I had accessed my messages on Hotmail, there was the reason. I had been accepted as a chat host on Strokenet. So followed instructions, changed my password and became a new person - hostsue.

During my lifetime I have been a lot of things. I started my first voluntary job at 16 as the secretary of Ourimbah Teen Club. We lived at Ourimbah, a little village on the Central Coast inland from where we live now. It had a hall that had been a Nissan Hut . The hall was moved from where it was used somewhere in Sydney for storage after the second World War to Ourimbah to take on it's humble job as School of Arts and the equivalent of town hall. As secretary I was part of an executive that not only ran meetings but dances and fund-raisers too. Our teen club held fortnightly dances, though in the rock and roll era we were still doing swing waltzes and barn dances. But we were happy, meeting our peers socially, raising a little money for charity. The other two Saturdays I danced at other halls including on the Mountain where I met my husband Ray, he could really dance in those days.

I have been employed in several service industries, including the auto industry, in local government, the public service and did a stint as a Tupperware lady. With each job I re-invented myself. There are a lot of facets of our personalities that we stifle in one job and bring out in another. The quiet secretary can become the stand-up comedienne because in selling Tupperware to roomfuls of people humor really helped to put the sales figures up, and if they like you, they ask you back!

I also worked in many community organisations as all the country mothers do, raising money for schools, Scouts, church, Daycare, and other organisations that need a fund-raiser. I held a lot of offices in 25 years, so was sometimes Madam President and sometimes the person rostered on to wash up! A lot of people will identify with me on that one.

When Ray had the strokes I was working part-time in paid work and part-time for the church, usually six days out of seven. Coming home to look after him put me into a whole new catergory - caregiver. I've done that job to the best of my ability for over seven years. I said: "in sickness and in health" as one of my wedding vows and that is it for as long as I am able to manage. With Ray's condition deteriorating mainly due to the diabetes I don't know how long that will be. But as long as I am able.

So as hostsue I will be doing Caregiver chats on Tuesdays nights (when I am available) and acting as a cheerleader and supporter for those who need it, caregiver and survivor alike. I guess the saying is true: "the more things change, the more they stay the same." I am the same person I was yesterday - I just have a new name.