Farewell Until Next Time

Himself came to the rescue and took the Baby Angel to netball so I could go and see Mum and Dad off at the airport.

Here they are saying their last goodbyes. I was playing with the camera's exposure to see if I could compensate for the backlight but as a result I got movement and blur instead. What I need is a good high definition PAS. This fancy schmancy manual jobbie is just beyond me.

We had quite a crowd at the airport with another two families joining me to say goodbye to the 'olds'. It got me thinking about family and extended family and how lucky we are to have both. Growing up in the wilds of Australia, we didn't have our immediate family around us. Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all lived back in the North East of England and so my parents forged new support groups, families with kids around about the same age. These families remain firm friends to this day as the parents all march onwards through their seventies, and in some cases eighties, and the kids dabble in middle age, trying desperately not to get our feet wet. Seeing our parents together somehow keeps us 'the kids'. Kindergarten Friend will know what I mean.

I did my usual weeping. "You must stop doing this!" urged Mum. "You cry when we arrive and cry when we leave..."

Apparently they'll be back before the end of the year although I think once they get back to the UK and see my sisters and their other grandchildren again, life will settle into another, different routine and the long, wearing trip back to this side of the planet will seem less palatable. After all, my niece and nephew deserve some Grandma and Grandad time. Lord knows the BA and Small Boy have benefited from it over here. Who but a (step) grandma has the patience to play endless games of 'Eye Spy' with you in the back seat of the car on a long(ish) drive and who but a grandad can force you to take golf lessons because its a 'valuable skill to have, best learned at a young age.' ??? :-)

As for me? Well, I'll miss having them around the corner (relatively) but I have to tell myself that we are nowhere near as isolated from each other as they were from their own parents in 1962 when we arrived here. In those days you had to book an international telephone call with an operator. Now we have video calls with skype.

Safe travels Mum and Dad. I'll speak to you when you make landfall in the Northern Hemisphere. Oh and your sheets are dry now Mum. I'll make the beds up ready for your return.