As New Years Eve approaches us tomorrow it is time to put pen to paper my thoughts on the last 12 months and prepare to say farewell to 2022.
For me 2022 was a fabulous year full of many wonderful memories, unlike the vicious beast that was 2021, 2022 renewed my faith in the future.
Our world is slowly returning to some sort of normalcy after two terrifying years of COVID and lockdowns and isolation, but we pulled through.
With any wish, much like a prayer we should always begin with gratitude, I am so grateful for the love and support or my friends, loved ones, allies and family. I am nothing but the reflection and the sum of my friends and allies. I am truly blessed to be surrounded by some of the most loving, generous and kind people who have supported, advised and mentored me and given me love, strength and encouragement through 2022. People do not tell you they hate you, they just try to block you at every turn; the opposite is true of people who love you, we are elevated, strengthened and protected by our friends and as we say goodbye to 2022 I would like to give thanks to the universe for delivering unto me angels on Earth who I am so proud to call my friends. I am surrounded by love and I feel it and I am so grateful for this blessing.
I turned 50 this year, much against my will but unfortunately there are things that even I cannot control. Transgender people traditionally don’t live very long so I give thanks to be alive and safe and sound.
My health both physical and mental has become quite pressing of late, my liver function earlier this year was at 50% and I came dangerously close to liver failure. I decided I would rather die than give up my hormones which sent my endocrinologist into a panic but the Endocrine Clinic and the head of the new Trans Clinic at St Vincent’s Hospital found a solution that is not only better for my body but has also improved my health by leaps and bounds both hormonally and biologically and psychologically – my liver function is now almost 90%, my kidney function is now at better levels than non diabetics. This is the second time in two years St Vincent’s Hospital has saved my life so I give thanks to the wonderful staff at St Vincents who keep me healthy.
Due to ill health, financial worries and an uncertain world I became deeply depressed from 2019 though 2020, this is not something I shared but I basically let my world around me unravel and become a chaotic mess in private. I become officially obese at 134kg and a size 22 in a dress. With the immense weight loss and improved health I have been able to overcome my deep depression and have reorganised everything putting everything back in order. I give thanks to my friends and family who unbeknownst to them lifted me up and pulled me out of my depression and gave me an interest to live again. And breathe again.
Many of our friends no longer wished to live this year, I am saddened by their choice to leave us but I hope their anguish is now at peace and I honour their memory as they take their eternal rest.
I am so grateful for my relationship with Camilla, I love being a Camilla girl, it has been a dream and I give thanks to the wonderful Camilla team who have surrounded me in love and beauty, shrouded in such beauty I feel glorious and gorgeous and armed to face the world!
I give thanks to the Poof Doof Family who have stood by me through thick and thin, for the last three years at Ivy we have welcomed Gay Sydney every Saturday night, this New Years Eve is our last, ai am saddened to leave but I look forward to our new home on Oxford Street. I have so enjoyed my time with Poof Doof and give thanks for the wonderful friends and connections I have made with this wonderful team.
2022 has also honoured me with honours… Award nominations, Sydney World Pride Rainbow Champion, BGF Community Ambassador, Qtopia Sydney Pride Museum Board Director, Brand ambassadorships, etc etc. I feel honoured to be bestowed these responsibilities. I am honoured by the recognition and the faith these organisations have in my capabilities. I give thanks for these honours.
My place in the public eye is also changing with a Ladbible episode coming up, an appearance in the controversial Israel Folau documentary soon to be released by ABC, a Channel 9 tv show on ageing released in November, Magazine DNA and Newspaper interviews in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, quotes in The Telegraph, radio interviews and even a Melbourne Cup appearance on news channels across Australia.. I have even reprised my showgirl career; only heaven knows what’s coming, I only hope that I’m equipped to navigate the future. I give thanks for this renaissance I am experiencing in the autumn of the journey which we call life.
I am so proud that my trans awareness education is flourishing and is not just in corporate headquarters but has also found its way to sea thanks to P&O… I turned my corporate trans awareness education programme into a glamorous show for the Pride Cruises and they were very well received, who knows where that will take me, but I give thanks for the opportunities and the new horizons.
I am so grateful for 2022, it has been a busy, busy year, full of so many wonderful experiences, opportunities, blessings and new journeys.
I give thanks that 2022 happened, I give thanks for all the beautiful humans who have touched my life this year, I am one grateful Queen.
Let’s look to 2023 with hope and joyful anticipation.
I wish everyone a prosperous year ahead, may all your dreams and hopes come to fruition, may good fortune find you and may the angels keep you safe from harm and danger, from my house to yours, I wish all a very very Happy New Year.
With love Katherine ✨💗✨
What a wonderful year 2022 was for me.
