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Debbie Gordon, known to generations of preschoolers as "Miss Debbie", has been a familiar face since 1971 at the Holy Family Preschool, which was opened by the Schoenstatt Sisters in 1968.
At a time when family support services in Western Sydney were lacking, the Schoenstatt ministry to working families was a welcome addition to the residents of Mt Druitt. Since then, the preschool they founded has thrived and now caters for 40 children, aged 3-5.
The opening of the preschool also coincided with the beginning of Debbie's working life. As an intellectually disabled 16-year-old about to finish school, the offer of an assistant's job at the new preschool was the solution to her own job search.
Debbie liked the work so much that she stayed for 37 years. "The work was important to me, but being with the kids was what I really enjoyed. They were all good children and they made me laugh a lot."
Debbie said her favourite job was making play dough and watching the children gather around her while she did it. "The kids eat the play dough, you know," she confided.
Having recently retired from her position at the preschool, Debbie said she missed not being around the children. When she runs into old students in the street, some of them now adults, they still call her "Miss Debbie". Through the Nepean Disability Association, she stays active, attending adult classes and the gym.
One of Debbie's greatest assets is the love that comes back to her from her large family, including 12 nephews and nieces. With her doting parents, Bill and Helen, she now lives in the tranquil surrounds of Emmaus Village, Kemps Creek, where kangaroos and goannas are regular visitors to the garden. Previously, the Gordons were parishioners at Our Lady of the Rosary, St Marys, for 45 years.
The shortage of affordable housing in the Eastern Suburbs saw Bill and Helen move their family of five into the Housing Commission estate at St Marys in 1961.
The family would eventually number seven children, although Lynette, their
third daughter, died suddenly at just 18 months.
Debbie, their eldest child, was born with an intellectual disability and Susan,
their second daughter, was born deaf.
The Gordons said they had found great solace in their Catholic faith and the faith-based social network, Faith and Light, for families living with disabilities. Members meet monthly at Toongabbie.
At Emmaus Village, Bill Gordon said he and Helen had found peace for the great question that confronts all ageing parents of disabled children: "What will become of our child after we are gone?"
Bill said that when the day came that he and Helen were too frail to manage Debbie's affairs she would become a resident of the nearby hostel.
As for the immediate future, the Gordons are busy planning a trip to Canada and Alaska. It will be Debbie's third overseas trip.
She said the highlights of a previous trip to the US included New York and Disney World in Florida. And her favourite? "Oh, Disney World! I'd go back there tomorrow!"
