Reintroducing to you...

Hello everyone,

The other day Nikki, who blogs over at From My Life to Our Life, did a reintroduction post.  It occurred to me that, since 2018 is shaping as a major reboot year for me (and because New Cîteaux was a bit quiet in 2017) that it'd be a good idea for me to do the same.

Where to start?  I'm Stephen, I'm 39 years of age, and I live in the Goulburn Valley, Australia.

I'm a long-distance dad to two adorable little girls called Grace and Rachel.  Their mother and I were married.  It didn't last (hence the past tense), but I remain on good terms with her, even if one couldn't really call us friends.  Why did the marriage fail? I guess there was enough blame to go round but I try not to think about it.  Regardless, she’s a good person and a wonderful mother on any measure.  She’s usually referred to in these pages as “The Ex”.





Grace (L) and Rachel (R)



Work?  I was a lawyer once upon a time.  I moved up here from Melbourne in 2013 after an infamous week in January in which I was terminated from my job and served with divorce papers in the span of five days.  I worked for a year as a lawyer with a Shepparton firm, and another year as a legal officer with the water authority.  I've been a factory hand, a gardener’s labourer, a rouseabout, a fruit picker and a signmaker’s labourer.  Depressingly, I've also been unemployed a big whack of the time too.  Currently I'm hoping to hear back about an interview for a job earlier this month.

Actually, unemployed probably isn't the right word.  I seem to “work” a lot - a farm hand on the family place, for one thing.  A casual cleaner and gardener for a doctor in Shepparton.  An aspiring writer (strictly non-fiction; principally legal and technical subjects).  I also fill a hell of a lot of time in with volunteering.  I'm an emergency responder with the Victoria State Emergency Service and the Controller of the Tatura SES Unit (roughly the equivalent of a fire brigade captain).  I'm a member of the Shepparton Unit of the Red Cross Emergency Service, and a somewhat fanatical blood donor (my fortnightly plasma donation is one of the best bits of any given two weeks).

Wearing my dress uniform ("blues") in December 2016

I love to run and keep fit.  This is kind of critical because I also like to eat way too much.  I've completed three full marathons but have given them up now (too hard on the knees).  I prefer the half-marathon distance because I can do so much more with it.



Running in the Axedale-to-Heathcote trail run in 2017

I'm a practising and committed Roman Catholic.  I loathe the dichotomy that people insist on claiming exists between the papacies of John Paul II and Benedict XVI on one hand and Francis on the other: each of them is a worthy expression of the same rich heritage.

Colossal "thank you" to my dear friend @wildchild176 who picked up the ideal First Communion gifts for Grace and Rachel: rosaries from the Vatican! Thank you so much!!

A post shared by Stephen Tuck (@sdtuc2) on Jan 5, 2018 at 2:59pm PST

If you're reading this and a blogger, why not reintroduce yourself as well?  And maybe share the link below for us all to learn to get to know each other a bit better!