THOSE who know me well know I like to talk. A lot.
So I was surprised when a local Rotary Club invited me to speak at their function last week.
Seriously? I get the floor to myself for 20 minutes and a free meal? Done.
It was the first time I had been to a Rotary meeting, and once I realised there was no secret handshake I had a great time.
Here is a group committed to doing good things in our community.
What’s not to like?
I got to put faces to names I have heard of, and got to meet completely new faces.
Best of all, I got to catch up with the father of a couple of old school-mates, and my best friend’s dad.
That’s what being part of a community is like; connecting through shared friendships and history.
As a Mandurah girl, it’s easy to find something in common with other locals.
What surprised me at this function was also finding people from the town my parents originally hail from.
Wagin was well represented at this meeting, as was Collie, where my first boss at Fairfax was from.
This showed me you don’t necessarily need to have been born and bred in a community to find links within it.
We are all connected in some way or another.
And trust me, if you think no one will ever remember what a cheeky little trouble-maker you were in primary school, you’re wrong.
There will always be a function where you bump into the father of the head boy in your year seven class who will know exactly what you got up to 30 years ago.
As potentially embarrassing as that can be, there is something nice about belonging to a community with members who know your past, your present, your family, and your first pet’s name.
Some people find it too close for comfort.
But I like it.
It makes me feel like I belong here.
It also means I know what many of you were like in primary school, too.
Don’t worry, though – my lips are sealed.
At least until my next speaking engagement.
