Family Matters

Michael

Michael is married to Larissa, who's very friendly. I think she said she's a school counselor. Her real interest is in sailing; Michael is a golf nut like his mother. 

Michael's daughter from his first marriage is Talei. She had a scholarship (Fulbright?) to Harvard to study Education but is currently unemployed. From his second marriage he has another daughter, Frieda, who's in high school. 

He was working as an electrical engineer doing something with mining safety but he was laid off. He's now doing something Janet doesn't understand; so I asked him and it's still something connected with mining safety, specifically the conditions that lead flammable substances to ... flame.

Rozie 

Rozie is married to Russell and has two children, Chelsea and Jack. Chelsea is an academic superstar and is now finishing medical school. Jack has learning disabilities but still did well with special support from his school. Rosie is currently commuting to work in Brisbane because research opportunities are sparse in Perth and getting worse. Grant funding usually goes to people who know people, so tends to center more and more in the other big cities.

In addition to Rozie's family money and no doubt generous salary, they have a ton of money from Russell's enterprises. He's a computer programmer but also, I think, an organizer and problem solver. He finds out what people wish a certain kind of software could do, and then he makes the software do that. He has worked with multiple startups, three of which turned into billion-dollar companies: Canva, Quora (like Reddit but less messy), and another I don't remember.

Helen and Joan 

Helen and Joan are sisters, daughters of Rose's sister. Rose's brother shot himself. Helen was tough and no-nonsense. 

I spoke to Joan on the phone, a long and interesting conversation. She's over 90, and she speaks very slowly (drives Janet nuts) but she is all there. She and Janet talk weekly. Joan lives in Brisbane, and I don't think I've ever met her (and she doesn't think she's met me.) She has always been depressive and has been hospitalized multiple times. She now has ECT every few months. She says she only does it because her doctor thinks it helps her; she doesn't agree. Janet's claim that it helped Joan was instrumental in Geoffrey's decision to try it. Sadly, when I brought it up to Joan, I sensed that I had sort of invaded her privacy. She said she doesn't tell many people about her depression; she evidently finds it somehow shameful. 

According to Joan, she and Helen and Janet and Geoffrey were very close growing up.

Her son (or Helen's son?) David was a doctor and an addict. (Geoffrey said he drank himself to death.)