Mercenary Mum: My Journey from Young Mother to Baghdad Bodyguard (22 page)

EPILOGUE

I always knew that I would have to hold on and fight for a better future. I knew that I had to hang in there. Bad stuff can’t happen forever. Eventually, I was going to have some good luck come my way.

I felt so sorry for Bruce when I heard of his marriage break-up. I offered him my home and my help if he needed it. I took back each and every bad thought I’d had about him, and just felt compassion for what he must have been going through. I knew what that heartache was like. It hurt like hell. We agreed that Kane would stay with him during school holidays, and I promised myself I’d let Kane move back there if he wasn’t happy in Perth.

As for me, I am enjoying a happy life. My son has settled into school, and is enjoying his new friends and his new life.

Paul has opened my heart and my mind to all of life’s fabulous possibilities. He has made my eyes sparkle again, and has brought me more joy than I ever thought imaginable. While we may have the odd fight, nothing will ever stop me from loving him with all my heart.

Fate has shown me her cruel, heartbreaking, deadly side, but I could not let it destroy me. Life is full of heartbreak. Life is full of challenges and sadness. It is how we deal with what we are handed that makes us who we are. We can either succumb to the pain of it all, or fight for a better future. I chose to fight. The battle was long and filled with hurt, but the prize was well worth the cost.

I now have the best life I could have ever possibly hoped for. I have a home. I have a family. I am married to a man I love and we have three beautiful children between us.

Who knows what the future holds now? With Paul and our children by my side, I know that I can face anything.

A family photo of Lil, Ced, baby Shannon and me, 1979. Mum was always putting Lil and me in matching dresses when were little.

Ced and me climbing a tree when we were kids, 1976.

Completing the Bayonet Assault Course during recruit training, 1993.
(Photo by Freeman’s Photographic Services)

Me after completing a drill (marching) test during recruit training, 1993.
(Photo by Freeman’s Photographic Services)

Me during Close Personal Protection Training, 2003.
(Photo by Shannon Joyce)

Kane and me on my graduation day from the Royal Military College, 2001.

Kane’s first day at school, 2005.

Mother’s Day in Iraq, 2006.

Having delivered our client safely onto the Blackhawk helicopter in the background, we were off to attend another pre-election meeting in the Red Zone, 2005.