Mrs Meyer on the strip

Mrs Meyer on the strip
There’s been a quiet background character in most of my stories this year. The very core of my little family has a solid foundation — someone who has her head screwed on well. She is the mother of my children, she was my wife and she is my good friend. Her name is Dawn.
I met Dawn when I was 17 and working at a supermarket in a quiet country town. I was flicking through a magazine with a naked Madonna on the front, a shot from her Sex book. That I danced like Madonna at Brumbies nightclub should have been cause for concern, but still we fell in love.
A quiet, shy girl to begin with, this raucous Leo has travelled to hell and back and remains loyal to our little family.
Dawn and I get on like a house on fire. Most couples that come into contact with us cannot believe we don’t fight or silently mope around each other.
I have a couple of gay dad friends. We all have amazing, respectful relationships with our ex-wives. They are relationships for life considering we have children to raise together.
I’ve left the divorce proceedings in Dawn’s hands. I’ve chosen to leave the marriage, so when she’s ready, she will complete the papers. For a girl who became a Catholic to get married all those years ago, it’s still a traumatic closing.
I recently took Dawn to see a show at Slide bar with a few friends. I talked to her as she got ready at my place, we chatted about the kids over dumplings and we went to the Colombian for a pre-show drink.
I took a snap of Dawn reading my column in this paper at a gay bar. She giggled. How far we’d come, we both thought.
It was an odd feeling having Dawn on the strip, but then, we did buy her hairpiece for the wedding on Oxford St a thousand years ago.
It was fun to take her out and leave the kids with their grandmother. It was like two good friends going out for a giggle and a show.
And at the end of the night, it was amazing to see how we can survive the worst, nurture a family together and continue to grow.