Media
Stories of Strength: Anita, 2019

Photo Ref: 25824
Creator: Unknown
My parents were born in Macedonia but they met in Sydney. They met at a Macedonian dance and fell in love. Maybe a year or so after they moved to Lake Macquarie. I’m thankful that they were able to give us an opportunity to study and live in this beautiful country. I grew up in West Wallsend and we were the only Europeans in town - we owned the local takeaway shop. They were able to give us a grounding. They were able to give us family. They were able to give us a community that we could learn and grow in and become the people that we are. I think people nowadays seem to be prouder of who they are and where they’ve come from. When I was younger it was almost embarrassing, but I think it’s a lot more accepting now, and a lot more welcoming to be from another country. can speak the language. I love the music, the dancing, the culture - it’s very festive. It brings people together. It’s all about celebration and being with family and sharing your joys in life.
This work by Lake Macquarie City Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License