Monday, August 30, 2010

Because I can .... I'm back!

I've been away for the last week with my mother ...visiting family and wandering around the Lake Macquarie area.

Upside ... visiting family was great. It was important for my mother to visit her brother and reassure herself he was OK ... which he was. He's had a couple of strokes which has reduced his understading of the world and limited his mobility but he's in great spirits and looked after wonderfully by my aunt. I enjoyed my visit with him, especially the second time where it was clear he remembered who I was and we spent the whole visit holding hands. That'll always remain the highlight of our visit.


My Mum and her brother Stanley.

We also got to see four of my uncle's great grandchildren ... new members of the family neither my mother or I had met before. That's always wonderful.


My cousin Sandy's granddaughters Jazzy and Marlee.


My cousin Christopher's grandchildren Sean and Liam.

Upside ... it was beautiful. We saw quite a bit of the countryside around Dora Creek and Morriset and I'd willingly move there if I could find work and move everybody there. We only got to take one short bush walk at Boarding House Dam and that was amazing. I always love a walk near water.


Upside ... there is so much history to explore in the neighbourhood and we took quite a few trips to see some of it. We visited gaols and forts and even Caroline Chisholm's house in East Maitland.


Downside ... I was horrible to my mother. She and I are quite different people ... her outlook is narrow and I think she's probably spent most of her life afraid. That's not me at all and in the end it all got too much for me ... enough said!

A bridge to mend there I think.

3 comments:

Beck said...

Here's another upside - at least you are aware of the difficulties in your relationship and that it's not all one way traffic & that there is a way forward. Relationships are so tricky, especially with loved ones. It sounds like you have a lot of insight into your mum and your relationship with her. You sound like a really caring & thoughtful person so I'm sure it will all work out. How great to have that time away with extended family, I enjoyed reading this post xo

Jo said...

Glad you had a good time - looks very nice! Cute kids! I am sure you'll work things out with your mum. Can be a difficult relationship if you are not alike....

Catherine said...

travelling with family can be so hard... (but it's great that you've also remembered lots of positives too!