Children coming to stay

It is lovely when the adult children come to stay. I don’t have too much of this these days as three of them live nearby and when we do catch up it is usually only for an hour or two, rather than overnight. An exception to this is Levi and Rosie who often bring their family down for the night. As for the two that are in Australia, they only make it home now and again. And with Covid and the subsequent high flying-costs, it is even less often than before.

But currently, I have my oldest son here, along with his exuberant dog. They will stay for a couple of nights as Michael is renting his house out to holiday makers. Next week, Genevieve and Willow are planning to stay for a night or two and Jason and his girlfriend have already booked a flight for Christmas. And I am sure we will have Rosie and Levi to stay as well at some stage so I am feeling very blessed.

Having family to stay makes me feel happy. It brings me back to the time when all the children were young and although I was always busy, I was in my element. I am a Cancer star sign and one of the traits of a Cancer is their love of family. That’s not taking it away from any other star sign, because I am sure all mothers love their children, but it is definitely one of our traits. Family is important to us.

When I was young, I could never understand this as I’d had such a rocky road with my own mother. I actually wanted to distance myself from family as much as possible, but as soon as I had my own children I understood. My own children became my number one priority.

I guess I am fortunate to have three of them so close and able to visit them frequently, even if the overnight stays don’t happen as often as I would like. And aren’t we lucky with today’s communication. With free phone calling, Messenger and the like, it is nearly as good as a visit. I always talk with the Gold Coast two at least two or three times a week. Back when I was a child, phone calls were expensive and when overseas, especially so. I think I only rang home once or twice the whole 18 months I was away. That would be difficult for me if I only had that sparse communication with my kids.

When Daniel was away in Europe shearing, he would always phone regularly. With him now gone, it is incredibly hard. There is a hole that is always there, no matter how together the rest of our family is. In fact, that is the time that we notice it the most, when the rest of the family is gathered. There is usually one or two missing, like there will be this Christmas with Renee and her children still in Gold Coast. But when everyone is there, like at Levi’s wedding, that is when the hole feels biggest. That is when we know that hole will never be filled.

I know I should be grateful that I have my remaining children and grandchildren and believe me I am. I think that is one reason why I like having them to stay. It reminds me of the times when we were all together. But one can’t undo the clock. We just have to make the best of each moment going forward. Knowing that I have so many visits coming up certainly helps with this. Aren’t I fortunate.