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I was born in Canberra and spent a happy childhood and schooldays at Yarralumla Primary and Telopea. After leaving Telopea I joined the Public Service and studied part time at ANU, but never finished my studies there.
In 1972 I married a boy from Brisbane, Rob Rodgers. We have two children, James (1973) and Emma (1976).
In 1980 we moved to Toowoomba, QLD, where Rob worked for Telecom. Toowoomba is a lovely town and we spent 16 years there.
In the 1980's I studied at the University of Southern QLD and gained a Diploma in Biological Laboratory Techniques. This led to a career as a Seed Analyst with an Agricultural Laboratory in Toowoomba. This involved testing seed for farmers and seed merchants from all over Australia. We tested agricultural, vegetable, flower, grass and native seeds for germination, purity, weed seed contamination, viability and vigour. I enjoyed the work, and when we moved to Carindale in Brisbane in 1996 I continued working as a seed analyst with another seed testing lab until it closed down in 2005.
At present I am working 4 days a week as a Laboratory Technician at a Catholic girls school a few minutes from home. It is a great job in pleasant surroundings and as a bonus I get all the school holidays off. This means that I am able to babysit and spend a lot of time with our 2 grandchildren, Caitlin (9) and Matthew (18 months). Our son James and his partner Chrissie live 15minutes away.
For the past three years Emma and her husband, David have been working at the ABC and in the Public Service in Canberra. This has meant that my Canberra visits have increased to several times a year.
I am really looking forward to the reunion and seeing all my old friends from Yarralumla and Telopea.
