Mirabel Stories
- “I should have taken better care of Mummy, then she would still be alive.”
- “I just want a normal life.”
- “I really needed a break from my grandchildren, now I feel like I can face each day again.”
- “I can’t wait to see my Mirabel friends again. They understand what I have been through.”
- “All these years I never knew there were so many kids like me. It feels good to know I’m not alone.”
- "I have heaps of fun with the other kids at Mirabel. It feels good to be happy and forget about your worries for a while."
- "I have lived with my Nan since I was seven. She has helped me a lot.”
- "I miss my Dad. They say he's better now that he's in heaven but I can't play footy with him anymore."
- "My Daddy is always sick and his medicine makes him sleepy.”
- "My Nan says that my Mum and Dad loved me but they just made some bad choices."
- "Swimming with the dolphins was amazing. I have never done anything so exciting before.”
- "When I grow up I want to help people to stay away from drugs."
- “I don’t know where I would be if my aunt and uncle hadn’t made me part of their family.”
- “I just need to stay well enough to see my grandchildren through to independence.”
- “I’d like to be a Youth Ambassador so I can help other kids like me.”
- “Mirabel helps me when I feel sad. They help me to think differently about things.”
- “My Mum died because her body couldn’t handle the drugs anymore. Nan is like our Mum now and does everything for us.”
- “My Mummy isn’t here.”
- “The tutoring has helped me to catch up on all the school I missed before Dad died.”
- “We missed a lot of school and sometimes there wasn’t enough for us to eat."
“I should have taken better care of Mummy, then she would still be alive.”
Rebekah was 7 when she found her Mum hanging from the roof of her living room. The drug use, violence and criminal activity had taken their toll and her Mum could see no other way out. Rebekah now lives with her grandmother who is still trying to come to terms with her daughter’s death. She attends Mirabel’s therapeutic girls group where she takes comfort in the fact that she is not alone. Since the group began six months ago, 5 of the children have had their second parent die from drugs. Rebekah takes it on herself to comfort the children in the group with gentle words and a reassuring hug. Rebekah vividly recalls the night her Mum died and the difficult times leading up to her death. She says that she feels safe now that she lives with her grandmother but she misses her Mum immensely. She blames herself for her mother’s death and thinks that she should have taken better care of her. Mirabel is working with Rebekah to help her make sense of her world, catch up on the schooling she has missed and help build some happy memories of her childhood.

