When Carmel Holla moved into Resthaven Mount Gambier, she was determined to continue her lifelong love of sewing.<\/p>\n
So she set about converting part of her room at the residential aged care home into a state-of-the-art \u2018sewing corner\u2019, complete with sewing machine, overlocker, drawers of buttons and bobs, and colourful fabrics ready to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been a sewer ever since I was about ten,\u201d she said. \u201cI used to watch my mum, a qualified tailoress.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sister and my daughter are qualified tailors too, so even though I\u2019m not qualified myself, I think I have enough experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Born in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Carmel (pictured below at her sewing machine & right with resthaven\u2019s Naomi O\u2019Donohue)said her mum was Indian, and her dad was Norwegian and in the Merchant Navy.<\/p>\n
Despite the family history of tailoring, Carmel decided to become a nurse, beginning her training at age 16, in 1965.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were some interruptions to my career though, and I got my veil and stripes in 1980,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
There certainly were interruptions and it is safe ti say that Carmel has not had an easy life.<\/p>\n
Married for the first time at age 18, Carmel and her first husband, Harris, went on to have five children, three boys and two girls. Sadly, all three boys died soon after birth.<\/p>\n
Whilst Carmel was pregnant with their fifth child, Harris developed a brain tumour.<\/p>\n
At age 26, following the birth of her fifth child, a son who lived for just a week, Carmel developed septicaemia and required a hysterectomy. Whilst she was in hospital recovering from surgery, Harris was also in hospital undergoing chemotherapy. He died not long after.<\/p>\n
Carmel raised the children as best she could, and went on to meet her second husband, Ron. Unfortunately, Ron died of a heart attack.<\/p>\n
In 1988, Carmel broke her back whilst making a bed at work, causing paraplegia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been in a wheelchair for 36 years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In 2011, Carmel moved to South Australia to be close to her daughter and grandchildren, moving into a local retirement village in Mount Gambier. She lived there for seven years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d lost three sons and two husbands, and I said I\u2019d never marry again \u2013 but then I met John,\u201d she said. \u201cWe were both widowers, and he was so good to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carmel movied to Resthaven Mount Gambier with John in June last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cJohn was sick, and I couldn\u2019t live on my own,\u201d she said. \u201cBut as soon as we moved in, John settled down really well. Our love was amazing\u201d<\/p>\n
Sadly, John died in January this year.<\/p>\n
Carmel now finds comfort in her sewing nook, where a large photo of John hangs on the wall beside her colourful cottons and yarns.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would have been married for four years this year,\u201d she said addressing his photograph. \u201cAnd then you went and died, didn\u2019t you.<\/p>\n
Despite her many trials in life, Carmel continues to maintain a positive attitude that is cherished in the Resthaven Mount Gambier community \u2013 along with her beautiful sewing projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cI make girls dresses, dolls clothes, Bible bags, knitting bags, all sorts,\u201d she said. \u201cI give a lot of things away, but people also buy them.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople ask me to make things for them when they\u2019re having a baby, or need a gift. I just love sewing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carmel also enjoys a thriving social life in the home, with a large group from her former retirement village moving in at around the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI moved in and brought all my friends in with me,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m so happy here. I\u2019ve never been treated like this.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always been the one doing the hard work, and now I\u2019m being looked after for the first time in my life; I don\u2019t have any stress or strain.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one understands how much I appreciate what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whilst enjoying the comforts of being looked after, it\u2019s hard for Carmel to break the habit of a lifetime, and she still insists on cleaning her own room.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey do everything for you, if you want them to,\u201d she said. \u201cbut I love to clean my own room. I do let the staff clean the floors.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also like to clean the banisters in the hallways, and dust the tops of the doors and the paintings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe carers and nurses and Belle (m\u201dI struggle of course, like everybody does at my age, but you can\u2019t change anything by grizzling.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a bit of a traumatic life, but it must\u2019ve been meant to be somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When Carmel Holla moved into Resthaven Mount Gambier, she was determined to continue her lifelong love of sewing. So she set about converting part of her room at the residential aged care home into a state-of-the-art \u2018sewing corner\u2019, complete with sewing machine, overlocker, drawers of buttons and bobs, and colourful fabrics ready to go. \u201cI\u2019ve […]<\/p>\n