My Story - The Long Road Home

By Di Inchley
From Reader's Digest Magazine


FOR SALE $500. We spotted the sign in the window of the old St John ambulance and eagerly climbed aboard the antiseptic-white relic for a look. My sons and I poured over the tan bench seats, sink, cupboard and patient bed that stretched along the inside of the van. My heart racing, I looked over at Scott, 12, and Rohan, 10. Could this be the answer we’d been looking for?

Twelve months earlier my husband a nd I had separated and adjusting to life as a single-parent family was proving tough. Even though we tried licking our wounds with cups of tea, hugs and laughter, it was hard to overcome the "it’s not fair" mentality that had descended upon our home.

During the most trying times, I fantasised about leaving it all behind and touring carefree around Australia with my boys. The problem was we couldn’t afford a caravan. We couldn’t even afford a car. 

"It’s sold!" snapped the man in the St John uniform, ushering us out of the ambulance. 

"Well, why is the for-sale sign still on it?" I protested.

"It only sold this afternoon. They tried it out yesterday and rang back today to say they’d take it."

"Rang?" I queried. Aha! "In that case they haven’t given you a deposit yet?"

"Well, n-o-o-o-o." His tone was softening.

"If I gave you $20 now then, technically, I’d be in before them," I said, surprising myself with some confidence returning.

"But I couldn’t do that to them."

"First in best dressed," I said brightly, hoping I actually had $20 in my purse. He gulped. The boys watched wide-eyed.

"You’d better try it first," he said, shaking his head resignedly.

Try it? I had seen the long crank-handled gear stick: I couldn’t drive this tank! Five minutes later my friend Walter responded to my SOS and test-drove the van. He gave it the thumbs up and before I knew it the deal was sealed – for $460. We had just four weeks to find the cash. 

"I’ll sell my new bunk bed," Rohan volunteered on the way home. 

"Sure," I said, not believing it could be done.

The next night Rohan proudly announced that his sign on the front lawn had produced a bed buyer, to the couple next door. Scott applied for a job delivering newspapers, but came home with a coup – a job for both boys selling papers on a nearby corner. I began to sew curtains for extra cash and closed some old bank accounts. We lived on mince and sausages for a month and had free meals with other family.
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