As I review my life my main feeling is one of gratitude.
I grew up in a loving Christian family and learnt to give and take and to be tolerant of different opinions.
I discovered that helping others was the most rewarding way of life for me, and that hard work brought its own reward.
Perhaps because money was tight when I was growing up in the years of the Great Depression 1929-1939, I appreciate the good things of life more than those growing up in the present affluent society.

There have been huge changes in the world since I was born.
The motor car has replaced the horse and cart, electricity replaced gaslight and candles, jet planes replaced ships and trains for long journeys, and radio and television revolutionised home entertainment.
No longer do we sit around the piano for a sing-song.
The mobile phone and computers have revolutionised everything… 
There will be more huge changes in the lifetimes of my children and grandchildren.
Climate change, overpopulation and weapons of mass destruction are threats to all of us. I hope they will survive and contribute to the changes necessary to bring about a better world.

To my children and grandchildren I would say:

'Believe in yourself, set yourself goals and strive towards them.’

In the words of Socrates;

'To know thyself will set you free.'

Or in the words of Jesus;

'The truth will set you free.'

And

'A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another.'

Dr Olive Johnston, June 2005, Adelaide, South Australia

(Extracted from Olive’s Story, A Doctor’s Life on Three Continents, Peacock Publication