on the way once again.

An hour after posting the last piece on this screen, Anthony drops a couple of typed sheets on the kitchen table and asks me to interview him. For a job. A Mission Australa position working with African youth in Dandenong. Part-time -19 hours a week - helping refugeees to get involved in sport in the local area. He's made up a mock interview for himself using questions that I presume he's found on the internet. A dry run to help prepare him for the real experience on Tuesday afternoon.

My 29 year old son has had chronic fatigue for around 5 years. For the last 12 months he's been on health benefits, living back home, resting and taking care of himself and has gradually come good again.

I am reading an old interview between John Updike and Martin Amis on a website when Anthony gives me the list of possible questions and his answers to these then he goes off to his room to get something, which I twig is to give me a chance to read over his notes. Minutes later he's back again, smiling and ready to go.

I have not looked at the notes.


So why do you want the job I ask and as I say this I realize I have to be absolutely serious with him. I lose my smile .. My voice sounds plain but strong.

Anthony looks straight at me. I like working with people he says. I know how important sport can be -particularly for youth and I know how to organize things...I'd like to have the opportunity to help others if I can..

And this is how it goes.. as much as I remember what answers he gives me in the interview, -I don't actually remember much of what he says- the thing that stays with me more is the whole way he approaches each question.. the openness of his face, the clear eyed look he gives me, the way he stops talking and sits for a moment to think of what he's saying. the honesty of his replies . how direct he is when he speaks. the way when I ask so what do you find difficult when you're working? and he says that he's learned that if he puts in too much of himself it isn't good. That he understands the importance of keeping a balance between work and a private life.. How he believes this job will allow him to find that balance.. and that one day a week he'll get work washing dishes, something unskilled.. which he's sure won't be too hard to find.

I flick through the answers he's written on the sheets and tell him we've covered everything.. I say if it were me I'd give him the job ..and he smiles and pushes his chair back.

The afternoon goes on. I sit at the table with a cup of tea and listen to a bird chipping an end of day call on the lawn out the back.. The fan above me whirs away as it has for most of the weekend.. All I know is that this is the antidote to the reality of that last piece of writing..

The balance is back.