by Mike Milstein
Inga Browning’s parents left Denmark and moved to New Zealand in 1955. They made the difficult decision of leaving 16 year old Inga remain in Denmark to finish her last two years of school. She believes that those two years have been important:
“They made me independent. I was running my own life.”
She hoped to do her university work in Denmark but on a visit to see her parents in New Zealand that all changed. She fell in love with Nelson, settled in, married a farmer and proceeded to raise a family. After her youngest child went to school she pursued her dream of a university education, studying by correspondence at Massey and achieving a degree in economics. “I got a good job and took off. Life changed dramatically.”
She later remarried and moved to Hamilton, where she worked for about 10 years with HIV and Aids patients, “helping them through to death and dying. I didn’t realize that I was preparing for my own husband who got killed in a car crash. It was a horrific experience. He went out the door, said goodbye, got on his bike and never came back. Each moment is precious. I know that in my bones.”
Inga returned to Nelson because she wanted to be involved with the living. “I love the seas, the mountains, and the ambience of Nelson.” She soon discovered choral music and, through that, met her husband, Carl. “One of the delights I have in my life with my new husband is choral music. New doors have opened—Hayden, Mozart, Bach.”
Inga is aware that who she has become is a product of her life’s experiences and how she has responded to them. Her adult character was heavily influenced by the two formative years she spent on her own in Denmark. It was deepened by her decade of work with HIV and Aides sufferers, the tragic loss of her husband, and her tertiary education accomplishments while she was still a young mother. She also took a stab at politics, running as the Nelson candidate for the New Zealand Party. She didn’t expect to win and she didn’t, but more important, she grew through the campaigning experience, especially the challenges of public speaking.
She also is aware that, at age 68, she has to stay fit if she wants to stay active. She is an avid gardener and talks with enthusiasm about her “secret garden, where the birds are singing and the garden is singing.” She learned Reiki in the 1980s and continues to give this healing gift to others as well as to herself. As important, she takes an hour most every day for herself,” doing Reiki, meditating, doing my prayers. It helps to build an inner piece and calm within myself. I always feel renewed when I get up.”
Being involved with her six grandchildren is a very important part of Inga’s life. “I don’t want to miss this. I’m excited to think about what these young people can do and will do. Grandparents do have an important role, especially in today’s society. There are so many broken families.”
Inga’s advice to others who want to live a positive and meaningful life as they age is to “find a quiet place and listen to your inner voice. What is it that really stirs you and you feel passionate about?” She suggests that we think about three questions posed by Jean Houston: What’s your passion? How are you going to go about it? What do you need to make it happen?
Inga is also fully aware that we also need to be a bit lucky to age well: “There’s much to be said for being at the right place at the right time or being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Note: This article was published in The Leader, Nelson, NZ. It summarizes an interview aired on Nelson’s Fresh FM that was conducted by Annie Henry for the Conscious Ageing Network (CAN), which is sponsored by Age Concern, Nelson. If you want to share your thoughts with CAN or wish to know when interviews will be aired, send an email to agewell@xtra.co.nz.