Dr Maryanne Balanzategui

I considered Maryanne not only as a cousin, but a close friend, a confidante, and a pseudo- sister. In my eyes, Yenny's life was generally governed by what I consider to be her three Life Rules.  

Rule 1: Rules were made to be broken

Maryanne would repeat this mantra often, with a twinkle in her eye and a raised eyebrow, and during her childhood, teenage years, then even later on into adulthood, she indulged in some serious mischief making, where the Rules were either ignored or bent. For example, there were a couple of unsupervised parties at the farmhouse, when both her parents and mine were out of town. Food fights and some broken furniture, all of which had to be cleaned up quickly, were the result of these.  

Yenny also broke the rules with her driving escapades. Numerous speeding fines, several accidents (one of which she landed the family car into a cane paddock), and some truly hopeless parking (one effort recently witnessed by me, which we both laughed about.) She still managed to drive effortlessly around busy Melbourne traffic during her Medical Rep days, and would say to me, "It's easy, you just follow the signs!"

Being good Catholic girls, we always attended Sunday Mass. Unfortunately we were often chastised by either Aunty Linda or my mum, as we could not help ourselves giggling and whispering, usually at the Gilroy boys who may have been at church that day.  

Her boarding school days were littered with some unmentionable stories too … sneaking out of school and skinny dipping in the pool are just a couple of tales.   While studying Nursing she'd sneak me into the dorms. More parties. Later on we ended up sharing a house together … again, more socialising. And so our lives grew busier with jobs, travel, marriage and families.  

This leads me to her second rule.  

Rule 2: Keep calm, you'll get there

As a family we've experienced life events that have truly tested us. Maryanne's fortitude and calmness helped many of us, especially me, through these times. Malcolm and I also witnessed her resolve and determination during our visits to Melbourne.  

She'd sometimes be in a whirlwind of activity- cooking, ironing, gardening, and there was usually some coercing of family members (that's you Andrew!) into doing jobs. Within all of this multi-tasking she still remained calm and would make jokes about herself.  

Maryanne also managed to suggest trips away for the four of us to Bright, the Yarra Valley wineries, Sorrento and Werribee Zoo. Maryanne also allowed some guilty pleasures into her life via the television. Much to Andrew's displeasure she'd indulge in watching Days of our Lives and Temptation Island with Yvonne and myself. These mindless shows helped keep her calm and again she made jokes at her own expense over them.

Rule 3: Have fun

Briefly, Maryanne's final rule was simply to HAVE FUN because life is short. This became our excuse for "one more glass of red" or the reason we both planned many holidays away. Yenny lived a robust life by those rules. She was strongly directed by a yearning to do right by, and for her family, and her family were her life.  

So today Yen, it is not a goodbye, it is a thank you. Thank you for having the courage to break the rules, while remaining calm and having so much fun. You lived a passionate, meaningful life, and it is one to be proud of.   - Rosie