A YEAR after losing her children and ex-husband in a tragic campsite fire, Fiona Spies admits there are still days she wants to hide away from the world.
But these days are becoming fewer, and Ms Spies now says it’s time to move on.
Brett, Ben and Georgie Spies were killed following an horrific blaze at Timbertop Caravan Park in Mandurah on May 4 last year.
Their deaths left the community reeling and broke the hearts of everyone touched by the young family’s tragedy, none more so than Ben and Georgie’s mother, Fiona.
“I still have good and bad days,” Ms Spies said.
“I don’t think that will ever change.
“The memories never go away, they’re always still there.”
Rocked by the devastation, Ms Spies said support from friends, family and the community had buoyed her spirits in the darkest moments following the tragedy.
And a recent trip to Tasmania has seen her return to Mandurah full of hope for her future.
“A month in Tassie with my mother was the best thing to clear my head,” Ms Spies said.
“Now it’s time to move on.”
Called “Mummy Bear” by Georgie, and “Mam” by Ben, Ms Spies is looking forward to her future.
With a new job and a wedding to her long-time partner Karl on the way, the grieving mother is finally starting to heal.
“I still want them to walk through the door,” she said.
“But I know it’s not going to happen.”
Now planning a tribute for her family on May 4, Ms Spies expressed her wish for anyone touched by Brett, Ben or Georgie’s spirits in their short lives to gather at the fourth groyne on May 4 in time for sunset.
It’s a place steeped in memories for the mother who could always find her children there.
Waterbabies from birth, Ben and Georgie spent so much time at the popular surfing beach, Ms Spies plans to scatter their ashes there.
“If you could never find them, that’s where they’d be,” she said.
“It would be lovely if their friends could come along on the day to celebrate their lives.”
And while Ms Spies said she was “moving on”, memories of her children and ex-husband are never far away.
“It’s funny,” she said.
“But every morning I go outside and see the same two birds.
“That’s Ben and Georgie.
“Then another one comes along, and that one’s Brett – always late.”
Ms Spies said she carries each of her children with her every day and it was this that got her through the worst of the heartbreak.
“I never thought I wasn’t going to make it,” she said.
“I’ll see them again one day.”
