BEFORE Catherine Edwards had even reached her first birthday, her whole life was turned upside down.
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And now, at 50 years of age, she is trying to find a sense of herself that was lost many years ago. She is trying to find her father.
At just nine months old, Ms Edwards was placed into foster care, as her dad had disappeared, and her mother became increasingly unwell with an alcohol addiction.
After many years of searching, Ms Edwards managed to track down her dad.
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"We were discussing about how I would like to find him, because I've tried a few times over the years and next minute I know, my daughter located him on some old census type thing, in England," Ms Edwards said.
"Then, in the area that he was in the census, she found a local Facebook page and wrote something on the Facebook page, and somebody responded within a few hours and said 'he is my neighbour'.
"And then the neighbour gave her the contact number of his carer, and then we sent an email, and a photo of him in the war and a photo of him and my mother getting married ... and it was him."
But once he was found, Ms Edwards was faced with another challenge.
He lives on the other side of the world, and has been suffering from dementia for almost a decade, with his health declining rapidly.
This is why Ms Edwards' daughter started a GoFundMe Page, to try and reunite her mother with her grandfather, before it's too late.
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"I am trying to see my dad who's in England. I've never met him," Ms Edwards said.
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"They met, they married, they had me. He came back from the war not the same person, as that happens, and they separated, and I was only about nine months old," Ms Edwards said.
Since then, Ms Edwards has lived a life of challenge and suffering, and has struggled to form her own sense of identity.
Being bounced around in foster homes until she was seven, to being placed with family in Bathurst until she was a teenager and leaving home at an early age, Ms Edwards has never found a sense of belonging.
"There's always been that 'who am I'?" Ms Edwards said.
That was until she was sent a photo of her father, and suddenly it all became clear.
"They sent me a photo, and it does make sense, because even just looking at the photo ... I love music, I obviously have tattoos, and I'm quite hippy," she said.
"Then in the photo, there's a banjo, and a guitar, and a mosaic mirror and he is standing there in his little tracksuit with tattoos up his arms, and straight away I just went, 'that's my dad'."
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And, since finding her father, she has discovered that she has family all over the world.
"Apparently I have a sister in the Netherlands and a cousin in Malta, and these are people I don't know," Ms Edwards said.
Though the goal is to be able to meet her father, Ms Edwards is hoping that this meeting will allow her to develop relationships with the rest of her family.
But she can't do it without the help of the GoFundMe, which was organised by Ms Edwards' daughter.
It is titled 'Reuniting my mother with her Veteran Father,' and has so far raised more than $1000.
The goal of the page is to raise $6000, so that Ms Edwards and her daughter can afford passports, and flights to fly to England, as well as money to hire a car and travel while overseas.
Ms Edwards said she would be extremely grateful to anybody who was willing to donate any money, and that every dollar helps.
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