I come from a family where all siblings are very far apart in age. I’m the youngest of four. Believe it or not, my eldest sibling is forty years older than me! Due to these age gaps, my siblings and I all have different perceptions about our parents. My eldest sister tells me she always thinks of herself as someone who had parents who were a lot younger than her friends’ parents. It’s the total opposite for me. My parents had me when they were in their 60s. I don’t know how it’s possible but somehow it was.

By the time I turned twenty, my parents were already in their eighties. They were already grandparents and were slowing down. Sadly, I don’t feel I got to enjoy them as parents. I had more of a parent dynamic with my eldest sister. Now that I’m in my thirties and she’s in her seventies, I’m having to take on the role of the carer child. My sister has been in a wheelchair for the last two years. I take care of a lot of her errands as she is unable to. Most recently I had to find bathroom modifications options for disabled people as I could see her current bathroom wasn’t working for her. As she can no longer walk or stand comfortably, I had to seek out bathroom designers who could make her bathroom more user-friendly.

All the renovators thought I was her daughter. Apparently it’s a bit of a rite of passage for children to have to undergo these sorts of projects for their parents. I guess it’s a bit of peace of mind that I’m not the only one who needs to book a consultation with bathroom designers. Melbourne probably has heaps of daughters and sisters of disabled people who are needing to organise bathroom renovations.

The end result of the bathroom turned out great and my sister is a lot more comfortable. I guess she’s lucky our parents chose to have me so late, as I can help her as she ages.