Lovely visit

Stephen and I were blessed yesterday with the visit of Willow, Genevieve and two of her friends. Having had four sons and one daughter, my households have generally been heavily weighted with male energy. When the kids were home, Renee and I were always outnumbered and with her now in Australia, the balance is tipped even more. I have often felt sorry for Rosie, Levi’s wife, when it is just her and me and again, all those males. It is lovely having Genevieve back from France and it was special yesterday having five females in the house and only one male, rather than the other way around. And it was extra special in that these girls were super spiritual. It is nice when everyone is on the same page sometimes.

But what was even better, was that Genevieve felt she could invite her friends around to our place. I have always looked on her as a daughter and when she is in New Zealand, she is isolated from her own family. That must be very hard. One of the two friends that accompanied her is from Italy and the other has recently lost both her parents, so the three of them are in a similar situation really.

Once, years ago, I had travelled the eight hours down to visit my mother with my five kids and when I arrived, I was told that I couldn’t stay as my two nieces were there. We would have been perfectly happy sleeping on the floor but she was not happy about that. So, we left and stayed at a friend’s place instead. It was at that point, that I made a declaration to myself and I told my kids too, that they would always be welcome at my house, no matter how many people were already staying. So many times, over the years, the floor space has been completely filled. Everyone loves it when everyone is around. And with the grandkids too, there is getting even less space, though nowadays we are tending to have get-togethers in one of the kids or Genevieve’s houses, as they are bigger and have more beds. As its not me sleeping on the floor when everyone is here, I get that!

When the boys were at boarding school, they would often bring home overseas friends for the holidays, as these boys had nowhere to go. Daniel carried on with that tradition as he got older and often invited his Scottish or Irish shearer friends home for Christmas when they were far from their families as well.

I know Genevieve knows she is always welcome here. Her friends are too. I will have to make a point of telling her this. After all, there is nothing like a house full of people on special occasions.