Today, we continue the conversation with a women who experienced something so intense yet turned it into the fabric of her gratitudes for life.\xa0 Allow me to begin with Nicole Hintz\u2019 written words of the chilling day that shaped the rest of her life\u2026
\u201cEarly one Saturday morning, as a 16-year-old, I rode my bike up to the steepest hill to Lyn and Charlie\u2019s house, which I did every second Saturday to clean their house. Lyn and Charlie were a hardworking couple who lived on a farm, so they were very early risers. Lyn gave me a job cleaning her house and was
teaching me how to save. I would clean the house for two-and-a-half hours, completing all items on a list, and at the end she would deposit money into a bank account she opened for me. Together we would then add up how much I had saved. We would also do craft together and sell what we made at the markets on a Sunday.
This particular Saturday morning I arrived at their home, knocked on the door, called out and went inside. There was no reply so I went down to the shed but again couldn\u2019t find them. I returned to the house and called my Dad, who I woke up, and said: \u201cDad, I can\u2019t find Lyn and Charlie\u201d. We both thought it was strange, but didn\u2019t think much of it. I began cleaning the house; wiping down all the services. I noticed empty bullet shells down the hallway so I picked them all up not really thinking much of it. They were country people, who had parsley crops, and I knew they\u2019d had problems with hares recently, so I just assumed Charlie had gone out hunting during the night and dropped the shells. While I was in the hallway, I noticed their bedroom door half open so I called out again but still there was no response. I peeked around the door and could see they were still in bed. I didn\u2019t think it was normal, but I continued cleaning anyway and I would check on Lyn and Charlie from time to time. I even looked to see if there was movement, which I thought I\u2019d seen at one point.A little while later, Gavin, Lyn and Charlie\u2019s second son, had come home and asked me where his mum and dad were. I said they were still in bed asleep. He looked at me with a puzzled look and went down to the shed and caravan where he lived. More time passed. Gavin came back to the house and asked me if they had woken up. By this time I was a little worried and Gavin appeared to be worried too, so we both went down to their bedroom and opened the door. What I saw that day will remain with me for the rest of my life. I ran to the phone and called my Dad and said: \u201cDad someone has shot Lyn and Charlie\u201d. Dad told me he\u2019d be there soon - and he was. I don\u2019t think he even got dressed. He was there within what seemed like seconds. He came inside and went to the bedroom, even though I told him not to, and then I remember seeing my strong father buckle at the knees using the walls to hold himself up.
By this stage, Gavin was nowhere to be seen and Dad told me to wait outside for my mother. \u201cI\u2019m finding Gavin,\u201d he said. Mum arrived and she called Triple Zero, but under the stress she couldn\u2019t remember where she was so I took over the call and gave them details. I remember at this stage feeling no emotions. I was in shock and said to Mum, \u201cwhy am I not crying?\u201d. I told Mum I was worried because I had cleaned up all the evidence and what if the police thought it was me who had done it. I wanted to know why Lyn and Charlie and who would do this to them? They were the nicest and kindest people I\u2019d ever met. The ambulance was first to arrive and I remember the officers coming up to me and saying. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, there was nothing we could do\u201d. I didn\u2019t say it to them, but thought, \u201cno shit, tell me something I don\u2019t know\u201d. I don\u2019t remember too much else of what was going on around me, only that my Dad had taken control and told the police quite firmly that I wouldn\u2019t be going to the police station in the police car with Gavin. \u201cI will take her myself,\u201d he said, which he did.
I had t