Last edition we left Simon in psychiatric care, and Nesha frantically looking after him.
After all that, Simon changed his name to Alex.
After Alex’s discharge from the psychiatric ward in 2001, Nesha and Alex moved into a unit in Melbourne. Nesha, exhausted and anxious about her partner, managed to work while continuing to care for Alex. Alex’s recovery was not immediate.
For most of the first year, Alex’s delusionary behaviour clouded their relationship, as he was convinced Nesha was attempting to get rid of him by poisoning his food and drink. It was time to crawl out into the world and for the next four years they were determined to survive.
Firstly, they travelled to regional Victoria and took in odd jobs; milking cows, hospitality and landscape gardening, gaining skills and experience in all sorts of roles.
In 2005 they bought a house in the Victorian bush. Life had started to turn around. They now owned their own home. The small township close by was incredibly inviting and accepting of this couple, who were the first openly gay men to be part of the community. Free to express their opinions without interference or fear of harm – this was a quantum leap for their existence and lifestyle.
The previous ordeal of hospitalisation years ago had almost finished them. This, dear reader, is the part in the story to mention that Nesha and Alex are the most likeable people – genuine, funny and caring.
As the healing continued, Alex was now mentally and physically able to work and enjoyed the comradery at the Australian Wheat Board. His role was to shuffle tons of grain making him stronger and super fit. He laughs at the fact that this was the most masculine job one could imagine. “And I was bloody good at it!” He soon rose to be second in charge.
Meanwhile Nesha had three jobs…
They both owned a café – enter the first espresso machine to exist in the village. They became cooks serving real food, with Nesha also being front of house. Nesha’s second job was working on a duck farm. This entailed driving front-end loaders, and other duck farm duties, without knocking down the various sheds or running over ducks. Concreting was the third job…
These 3 years were transformative. The community offered hugs or shook hands, allowing Nesha and Alex to truly relax and be accepted. They felt so different. Invitations such as “Is your wife coming over? …. No, my husband is tho,” soon became normal conversation.
The town was very aware of gender diversity. One evening, however, a bar staff member ran away in shame, only to return and apologise the next day for assuming they were heterosexual. She didn’t know what to say.
Their newfound employment encapsulated normality – with a bit of extra flare.
Nesha and Alex are Indigenous. Nesha talks about her Pop: “He taught me, if you want something in life, you have work for it.”
Three years later they thought “why don’t we move to Tassie?” Stay tuned for part three.
