JUST AN ORDINARY PERSON: A MEMOIR

Diane (pronounced the French way, Dee-arne) was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1935. She grew up in the shadow of her extraordinarily skilled and well-known mother-a top radio announcer in Australia during the 1930s and 1940s. Her father, too, was an outstandingly talented musician and later businessman, with a 'genius IQ'. Believing she could never rise to anywhere near their level, Diane's childhood goal was to work on a conveyor belt until she married, had children and became the perfect wife and mother. But what a life it turned out to be. For Diane, the road to motherhood was not easy. After initially struggling with infertility, she adopted two children and fostered two more before finally giving birth to three. Over the years, life would deal up affairs, divorces, a son's devastating drug addiction, the death of two children and much more. Through it all, Diane always found ways of not only surviving but thriving. In this personal memoir she writes of her ongoing spiritual development and understanding of the 'big questions', and shares many of the techniques she used to rise above circumstances which would have crushed many-all the while providing a captivating glimpse of life in Australia during the 20th century. In the words of her mentor, author Amanda Hampson,