Zoe Jack

The Girl with the Blue Eyes and Curly Blonde Hair

A mother’s story of love, survival, and finding the way through.

She arrived into the world with curly blonde hair, big blue eyes, and skin kissed as brown as a berry. She stood taller than most of her friends — often on the outskirts of groups, part of them but sometimes not quite belonging. Artistic, sporty, quietly academic — but she dimmed her own light because she wanted so badly to fit in.

By eleven, the bullying had begun.

Those years were brutal. But a teacher saw her — really saw her, and taught her to stand up for herself in a way no one had before. At home, we tried to understand. We did our best. And she fought back. That strong little girl with the blue eyes and the curly hair. 

By fourteen, something had shifted — and not in the way we’d hoped.

She stood defiantly against us. Communication had broken down. In between those moments of love and connection; those brief windows where she’d come to us for guidance, she was breaking. And we felt like we were failing her.

She was threatened with a knife at school. Arguments filled our home. All we ever wanted was to help our child. We felt desperate as our feet walked on eggshells. 

And then the day came that no parent can prepare for. She took the tablets.

Her blue eyes closed. Her curly hair fell over her face.

We got her through that night. The acute care ward gave her space to find herself again. Until it happened a second time. And then a third.

The last time, my husband found her — scarf around her neck, crying desperately, asking to be gone.

That image, he says, will never leave his mind.

But something shifted in that moment. In her.

She left school at the end of Year 11...with our blessing. Work was a struggle. But the walls between us began, slowly, to come down.

She started being honest — about who she was, how she felt. Speaking up. She began returning to her creative self.

As challenging moments came up she began to  nestle into my chest. I held her. I couldn’t fix it. I didn’t try to. I just let those big blue eyes weep. I let her curly hair fall over my shoulder.

I was just there. Nothing more. Nothing less. And that was enough.

She pulled through those moments — and in doing so, she found herself.

The fake eyelashes are gone. The straightened, dyed hair is gone. The hunger for labelled clothing has been replaced by charity shop treasure hunts at the local Vinnies.

She taught herself to surf. The ocean is her sanctuary now — the place that brings her back to herself when anxiety rises.

She’s found her tribe. She’s found her person. Her career path is still uncertain, but she knows who she is and what she doesn’t want — and right now, that is more than enough. And our home is again calm. 

This journey through mental health didn’t happen to me — but it rippled through our family with a force I can’t fully describe and yet….

With presence. 
With tenacity.
With consistency and persistence and a love that refused to give up — our daughter is still here.

Her big blue eyes and her curly golden-brown hair move freely now, as she finds her way.

Why 20TALK calls to me as a fundraiser

Causes like 20TALK exist for the moments prior to the long, quiet, desperate stretches where young people need someone to talk to and families need somewhere to turn. It’s preventative. 

We were lucky. We had each other, and eventually, the right support. Not every family does. 

If our story has moved you, please consider making a donation; no amount is too small. You may be helping a family like ours find their way through the dark.

PLEASE DONATE HERE:  https://www.20hoursfor20talk.com.au/fundraisers/zoejack

 .....Thank you x

The impact of accumulation

20 Hours of Silence for Youth Mental Health.

I’m taking on the 20 Hours for 20Talk Challenge which will see me sitting in a 2×2 metre square in a warehouse, alongside 400 other participants, with no talking and no technology for 20 hours. All I’ll have are the essentials I bring with me: a chair, sleeping mat, journal, water, and food. No distractions.