As I cry my beautiful sister, and best friend goodbye on Australia Day 2016 I stop and think about how incredibly lucky I am to have what I have in my life. An incredible family, a boyfriend so incredible I sometimes can’t believe it, and friends so close that I can’t imagine my life without them. I jump into my cab and meet a driver… A driver from Africa who begins to tell me the story of his life on Australia Day; from north east Africa he moved to Sudan to study linguistics, he hated it there, women were segregated into different universities, going out and having a drink with a friend was unheard of unless you were a foreigner. Eventually he said he has a passion for music and he has finally – after becoming an Australian citizen realised he should pursue his passion for singing and not do as his father wanted. He plays me a song written by him and his band, and as I listen to him sing a mesmerising song in Arabic about a beautiful girl from Africa who should shed her light on the city, I cry my way into the sunset. I realise how lucky I am to be an Australian. 🇦🇺