How I Met Jacqueline: A Strata Meeting at Byron Bay

People often ask how I met Jacqueline. The honest answer is that it felt less like meeting someone new and more like recognising someone I had always known. This is how I tell it in the opening chapter of the book.

A strata meeting in 2002

Jacqueline and I had never met before. She was chairing a strata meeting for a retirement village I had built at Byron Bay in 2002. She came into the room with one of her colleagues, and I knew instantly that here was a woman who took charge, and she certainly proved that as she conducted the meeting.

She wouldn't accept any interruptions, and the meeting went seamlessly. I was completely taken with her, mesmerised, and felt something strangely familiar about her. She asked me some questions, and I had to pull myself back into the room, so lost was I in watching her.

“Oh, it's you”

When we finished the meeting, I went up to the podium and sat next to her. We both looked at each other and felt the same thing: ‘Oh, it’s you.’

We met for coffee and discovered we loved the same things, particularly animals. I couldn't wait to see her again.

I had just kissed an angel.

The next day, I met her outside her workplace and kissed her for the first time. Her eyes widened, and she didn't say a word. No words were needed, she just smiled.

Souls that recognise each other

I now believe souls carry deep connections that can span lifetimes, binding us in ways that are difficult to fathom. That first meeting was the beginning of the best years of my life, sixteen of them at Broken Head, and of a connection I believe continues today.

You can read the full opening chapter here, or learn more about our life together.