Lola ‘Bonnie’ Smith sits in her room at Doutta Galla’s Avondale Heights home surrounded by photographs.
Children grin from school portraits, grandchildren pose in football jumpers, and great-grandchildren beam from holiday snapshots. The images line the walls like a living scrapbook, each frame a reminder that family remains at the centre of her life.
At 95, Bonnie is sprightly, quick with a smile and quicker with a joke. Staff greet her with affectionate nicknames and she returns the banter easily. She gets along with everyone and speaks warmly of the team who check in on her throughout the day. “They’re good fun,” she says, adding that she could not say a bad word about any of them.
Her life stretches across nearly a century of change. Bonnie was born in 1930 in Wycheproof, a farming district in Victoria’s Mallee. Childhood meant work as much as play: helping with hay, riding a pony to school, doing what needed to be done. Entertainment was community-made. Sundays brought tennis and shared meals under trees. Barn dances filled country halls. People turned up for one another because there was little else to rely on.
Family remains her greatest pride. She raised two children and now delights in a growing circle of grandchildren and great-grandchildren whose photos surround her. Loss has touched her life. Her daughter died six years ago. Bonnie mentions it plainly, without drama, in the way of someone who has lived long enough to understand grief as part of the landscape.
She moved to Avondale Heights two years ago after a minor stroke made living alone impractical. She remembers the morning her hands refused to do what she asked when she tried to write. Hospital followed, then decisions. She did not want to live with her children. She did not want to lose her independence. Though she misses her old home and furniture, she accepted the move to residential care with characteristic pragmatism. “What do you do? So here I am.” She enjoys the activities, the humour of staff interactions and the reassurance of support nearby.
Bonnie rarely stays still. Her grandson who is a Coordinator and Director of the Arts, ensures she attends performances whenever possible, and family outings often fill her week. It is not unusual for her to head out four or more times, whether to a show, a family gathering or a simple outing together. “If they ask me to go, I’m going,” she says.
Doutta Galla supports residents to maintain independence and stay connected with the people and routines that matter to them. Bonnie takes full advantage of that support, continuing to get out into the community and prioritise family time while knowing assistance is there when she needs it, even if staff jokingly remind her not to come back in the wee small hours of the morning.
In her photo-filled room, surrounded by memories yet firmly settled in the present, Bonnie continues to live with humour, spirit and an unmistakable spark. It reflects the steady, sustaining work women have carried through generations: building families, strengthening communities, adapting to change and continuing forward.