Leaving Mix

I must be bonkers because I am stepping back from my dream job at Mix FM radio and taking a detour after a 30 year career in local media. Fear cripples me I will never find such a wonderful and fulfilling role as my current drive home shift. Our goal has always been to make locals smile. It is not a job – it is a pure privilege to hang out as a team every day and chat with so many friends chipping in on the phones.

I will so dearly miss our epic listeners who share their lives with Todd Widdicombe and myself and tell us when they have children or grandchildren, or when their mum passes away, or when they are getting a divorce. It is a wild roller coaster ride to work in radio and I will forever be grateful I have had the opportunity to work on the air for so long. My buddy Toddy has already made his decision to resign and the dad of four is the funniest person I know. He is also one of the nicest humans I know and so working with him has been a true gift from the radio Gods. My bestie wants more time with his family and to pursue other creative pursuits. I am not talking out of school when I also say Toddy lost his brother and one of his best mates to suicide in the past 6 months. It has been devastating for him and tough to watch my mate struggle so much with the weight of it all. Men’s suicide is something we all need to talk about more because it is a foul epidemic in our country. We are losing too many fathers, brothers and sons. Too many. So I had to make a choice to stay on after working with the one person so happily for 19 years or hang up the headphones with him. I am leaving. With a heavy heart. I am going to be around my kids much more.

One of my beautiful trio has autism and let me tell you I feel so guilty I am not there to pick him up from school when he has had a bad day being teased or because he has been by himself all day long. Friends are elusive for my boy and this breaks my heart as friends make your life better. My daughter is 14 and I want to hang on to any time I have left with her before she flies the coup and my little guy needs me around more of late with a few friendship fires and ongoing health issues.

My beautiful boss says I will still be able to do podcasts and fill in shifts and who knows what the future holds. Thank you to everyone for listening if you did. It has gone in the blink of an eye. It has meant the world to me. Time to learn to cook and clean the house. Yuck! To quote a great philosopher who does not wear pants (Winnie the Pooh) … how lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.