2020 life lessons: No matter how challenging life gets, don't give up

Sydneysiders Gren and Tony Histon share the challenges they faced and the lessons they learnt in the past year.

Grenessil Histon found new love and a happier life after escaping an abusive relationship Source: Grenessil Histon

Silver Linings

2020 has been an unprecedented year like no other. It has taught us about ourselves, our relationships, our passions and our values.  For better or worse, this year has changed us.

The Histon family's Christmas celebrations Source: Grenessil Histon

One of Tony’s biggest takeaways from 2020 was that he was able to spend more time with his family.

“I’ve learned that family is the most important thing. My work prior to pandemic involved all the travel and the real silver lining for me is being able to spend more time at home”

For Gren, the COVID-19-inspired life lessons have been more spiritual.

“My faith to God has strengthened to maybe one million times. That strong faith, you got to hold on to it.”

The Escape Plan

Grenessil Histon, is a nurse from Sydney. She moved to Australia in 2014 with the hopes of escaping her abusive ex-partner from the Philippines.

Choosing to migrate to another country is a big decision and a lengthy process. Thankfully, her plans worked out.

“Until now I must admit, I get nightmares from it. The trauma lingers.  I did get out of it because of my dreams. It was a total struggle as a new migrant, but I always remind myself of what I wanted to be.”

Source: Grenessil Histon

The depth of the scars and the weight of the pain is invisible to many but as her bruises heal, she strived to build a new life.  With time, Gren moved on and started dating again.

Then along came her knight in shining armour, Tony, whom she met in an online dating app.

“I admire her strength. She's obviously very beautiful. She's resilient, she's strong, she's a good mother and she has a very good work ethics,” Tony shares.

Gren settled in a new, healthy relationship and with the support of her new partner she renewed contact with her family and friends. Since then, she had made a conscious decision to get back in control of her life and empower other women who had gone through the same experiences.

Source: Grenessil Histon

Gren and Tony’s Tinder love story led to marriage just five days after Gren got her Nursing diploma. Their lives have been filled with so much love and a cute baby boy completed their family.

Source: Grenessil Histon

The Histons

Whilst many Filipino-Australians turned to baking, gardening, online selling, for Gren and her family, it’s vlogging.

They found ways to maintain human connections and create authentic spaces to help the community through their family vlog channel.

The Histons are sharing their family adventures, Gren’s migration story and outreach activities for the less fortunate children in the Philippines.

“We hope that this channel will be a way to give more to people.”

Source: Grenessil Histon

Apart from the vlogs, Gren continues to share her journey to victory and happiness to all new migrants in Australia through her own social media accounts.

“To new migrants, the key to success is having a strong faith to God, hardwork and patience.

Let’s continue to better ourselves for our families and support  other migrants too.“

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