Who is your family

Friday evening. It has been a full on week. Activities galore. Monday organising the shopping for our family day with pa. Tuesday baking and making preparing the lunch. Wednesday amongst the winmills at Kinderdijk ( all 17 of them) our family day fishing contest and later on dinner at the Wok restaurant in Papendrecht. Thursday I spent 6,5 hours hard on gardening...well not just weeding you understand, but hard on with the heavy stuff. A sparkling moment when I chopped the extension cord with the hedge trimmer. No damage done, except for the cord that is. Has a new plug on it now. I used it today... After I shortened the other and one accidentally blew a fuse this time. New plug coming up and the fuse has been replaced.

I had plenty of time to think about family today ( again). My cousin Renè called in at the caravan - to pick up a parcel he is going to take to New Zealand on Sunday. He is going to visit Trees ( my cousin on mum's side) and my oom Wim ( dad's youngest brother) they married almost 50 years ago.

My relationship with Renè is special. It is a mixture of cousin, brother and best friend. He supported me and encouraged me in my first few years back home. He believed in me and my ability to achieve all I wanted to achieve.

My oom Wim, my dad's youngest brother. Ever since I can remember he is my favourite uncle on dad's side. Now he is struggling with cancer... It hurts. He feels much like a father figure...wise, gentle, cheerful, consoling just like a dad can be. Oom Wim is married to a cousin on my mum's side. Trees, or Teresa as she is known in New Zealand. A wise person..no nonsense type and very caring - an older sister. Things aren't always what they seem or are labelled.

Then Andreas called in. Andreas is a young man, newly married and related to my next door neighbour. He isn't your family, I hear you think. Wrong! He may not be a blood tie, but Andreas and I share faith. We are both believers. We belong to the faith family. We discussed why he came outside on the deck....then during a cloud burst we retreated indoors and chatted about our faith.

Faith in that when things go wrong, they do come right - with faith. That we don't necessarily feel good, or happy go lucky all the time- but with positive thoughts, prayer and faith- we can turn the tide.

I LOVE my children and grandchildren- my family. They are so far away in miles but when I close my eyes I can almost touch them, smell them, ALMOST! My children are my energy, my dreams, my pride and hope my lifeline.

What is family? People who matter. Connected by blood line, by name and by faith... Family, celebrate it.