When she arrived today,she told me she had good news and bad news:“I remembered to put my panties on,but I forgot my bra.” I’m probably a little crazy like my mum,but I do remember to wear my underpants.
JULETTE:I fell pregnant with Peter two months after I had my second child. I was going to have an abortion,but I went to somebody who did that sort of thing and he said,"I'm not touching this – it's too dangerous because you've just had a baby."Peter was the best mistake I ever made.
I bonded with him immediately,and my husband,Joe,was happy to have a son. One day,Joe jumped out of his seat watching football and shouted at someone on the field,"You bloody poofter!"I said,"We won't be saying that any more"– Peter was maybe a year old and I just had a feeling he was gay. I remember Joe throwing him a ball;Peter just looked at it and walked the other way.
Peter was a difficult child. He stuttered,he couldn't spell,he didn't read. So I took him to a child therapist. He'd come out crying and say,"She made me eat poo,"because he didn't want to go. I used to take him to school and had to drive away with him hanging on to the fender,crying,"Please,Mummy!"He was at a Jewish school and the headmaster said,"All these Jewish mothers,when their children are stupid,they blame it on something else."That was the day I said,"Sorry,we won't be seeing you tomorrow."I was never a wonderful person,but I did love my children.
Peter came out when he was 19. Joe and I were in bed when Peter gave Joe a book – and a photograph of Peter kissing a boy fell out of it. Joe was supportive;it didn't worry me at all.
I worked with Peter as 2IC of the company for the first 11 years[he sold to the Just Group in 2000 and remains creative director of the brand] and it was so exciting;I'd done nothing in my life except cooking. At one point,my niece kicked the computer plug and everything was gone – we didn't know the customers'names,addresses or anything. We looked at each other and laughed. I said to Peter,"Go away and get over it and I'll sort out everything."
Peter hates going out. He just loves having us all there at the table laughing. He likes to come home to his dogs[Midge,pictured left,and Butch]. He gives tons of money to the RSPCA.
Peter means everything to me. He takes my daughters and me every year for a trip somewhere – Fiji,Bali,Africa – and we never take the husbands. He looks after me like I'm a queen. He orders or brings me food every single day. Why would I fight with him? He's perfect!
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