Laughing out loud, spectacles steaming up and colourful cardigan flying, artist Dorothée Heibel swings higher and higher as she explores the local playground with grandson Luca. To daughter Michèle, watching a little anxiously from the sidelines, this joyous scene somehow sums up the highs and lows of multi-generational living – sharing a household with extended family.
“Mum will do things with us that she wouldn’t do on her own,” smiles Michèle, also an artist who sometimes exhibits alongside her much-loved parent. “But I must admit it stresses me out hugely whenever she wants to try risky things with Luca”, pictured here with his mum and grandma, “because she has osteoporosis and arthritis.”
No-nonsense, Swiss-born Dorothée simply chuckles: “It keeps me young, you know. It’s a good challenge to walk on uneven stepping stones, or feel the wind in my hair on a swing. On good days I can do that and laughing with Luca helps me forget my pain. Living with a child brings so much. It keeps you grounded in actual life – what happens every day – not just watching or listening to the news.”
At a youthful 76, Dorothée is game for anything from a round of mini-golf to studying Japanese with her 12-year-old grandson. She passes on family history, stories of their European heritage, old-fashioned skills. “Knitting wasn’t the coolest though,” jokes articulate, thoughtful Luca, whose friends envy him having a grandmother on site.
Together they feed the chooks, walk live-wire Labrador Gumnut or go birdwatching in the bush around the