This is the first of a series of short stories about winners I’ve known. They’re not all triathletes but they’re all people who have motivated me along the way.

Peggy

Peggy was a nickname given to her by her twin sister many years ago. Peggy and her sister were orphans. She told the story of begging others in the orphanage for the skin off their apple. Some of the other kids were sent fruit by relatives but Peggy and her sister missed out on this privelage.

The girls were sent to neighbouring cattle properties to work as nanny/housmaids when they reached fourteen. They worked in the country until they were eighteen when they were released and allowed to return to their home town to live with their Dad.

Peggy worked as a waitress in the local pub and her sister took up nursing. Both met men and were married at around twenty one. Peggy moved to Brisbane with her new husband and her sister lived out her life in the country town.

Peggy and her husband worked hard, raising a family. Her husband working as a truck driver and when the kids were old enough, Peggy worked as a waitress. They built the family home themselves and as the years went by invested in another house, and then another. Lots of hard work, long hours and thrifty living paid off.

Peggy’s husband died when she was in her late fifties, he was older than her. It was hard but she had to move on. More hard work and thrifty living.

Next month Peggy turns eighty, she’s my mother. She’s the most active eighty year old you’ll ever meet. She walks for miles, dances several days a week.

She’s recently sold a couple of properties and as her eldest son, I have sat in on her consultations with a financial adviser. Just to convert his financial advisers talk into plain english. It’s time for her to let her money work for her, rather than, her working for it. I’m so happy for her to be able to live without relying on government handouts. To be able to enjoy her retirement in comfort, all because of her own hard work. 

When I was young, my vision of a millionaire was, sports cars, speed boats and beautiful women. I had no idea it was very likely to be a little old lady in a Corolla, who shops for every bargain available.

In my eyes she’s a winner. Her resilience, her confidence, her long term view and the inspiration she’s been to so many of us. You don’t have to be an athlete to be a winner. Having a vision and pursuing it relentlessly, while living a full life and inspiring others along the way, in my eyes makes you a winner. 

She’ll never lose her thrifty ways, when you’ve been hungry, you learn not to waste.