Monday 20 June 2016

Building Bridges



I grew up with two brothers and two sisters.

Since becoming adults and going off on our various different paths in life, needless to say, like most families, we have all had our disagreements and fall outs.

Unfortunately, and without boring you with my side of the stories, one of my brothers and both of my sisters and I have not spoken or been in contact for around 5 years (for the shortest period) and then 8 years and nearly 10 years for the others.

During the time that Max has gone through all of his surgeries and difficulties, and me with my own serious health issues, I have not had these people in my life for the most part. Along with my mother.

Now, this may surprise you, but this has actually not been a bad thing for me. I have managed to deal with all that has been thrown at me without their "support". Sometimes, people have far too much going on in their own lives to be able to give you the kind of support you need.
But when circumstances change sometimes, and you are seeing that one of your siblings has been going through some very difficult stuff (which is not actually of their own doing), it is an opportunity to try and reach out and start to make amends.

My younger sister is in the very blessed position to have had a bit of a fresh start in life. A new relationship which resulted in marriage and two beautiful little girls. All in the last 3 and a half years.

However, her youngest daughter is only 6 months old and has spent the most part of that time being in and out of  hospital with health issues. At times, the situation has actually been life threatening. Having been in a very similar situation with Max as a baby, I can honestly understand what she has been going through. She has had the added pressure of having a 2 year old that she hasn't been able to be with as much as she would have wanted to because of having to stay at the hospital for weeks at a time.

So, I decided that I needed to make the effort to reach out and let her know that I care. That I wanted to try to be around for her should she need me to be. Several weeks of messaging later, a visit to the hospital to meet the baby, and here we are. And it seems to all be plodding along quite nicely.

On Saturday, I finally met her eldest - a celebration for her 3rd birthday.

I can honestly say that I couldn't be happier about being able to go and be with my sister and her little family. To meet my other beautiful little niece. She is a gorgeous little character. Very bright and confident and hugely affectionate. The baby is a complete angel. She's so placid and very happy to have cuddles despite all the poking and prodding that she's had to endure with her hospital visits. I couldn't be any more proud of them both already. For those of you who know me well enough, you'll know that generally speaking, little girls aren't my thing. Haha. Screeching and whinging is most of the experience I've had when in little girls' company and i just. Can't. Ha ha - Oh well, grumpy me.

To top off the visit, my brother and his family were able to get there too. so my 6 year old nephew and my 5 month old nephew were also there. Gorgeous little monkeys, the pair of them.
 
I was spoilt for choice being surrounded by my nieces and nephews. For the first time in a very long time, I felt the little part in my heart that has been a bit sore for the lack of "family" these past few years and the sadness of not yet being able to have another baby, start to feel a bit better.
I can only hope that my relationship with my sister and her family continues to be a good thing in each of our lives and that my two new nieces get to know us as their Auntie, Uncle, and cousin. I cannot wait to see them again. The gorgeous little sausages!

I do have a "never say never" mentality in life. But I do struggle with bullshit, selfishness, liars and aggressive people. I've always  been pretty intolerant like that.And i'd rather just distance myself from people like that, rather than just keep having the same old arguments over and over. Even more so since my own health problems. As much as I sometimes wish I could forgive a lot more easily and just move on, I struggle a bit.  Ha! But, the steps I have taken so far with my little sister has rewarded me with having these two munchkins in my life.

There's definately the beginnings of a silver lining here. Who knows what tomorrow may bring for us all. xoxo




WORD FOR THE DAY:             nonpareil - noun
                                                                                                        a person or thing having no equal




 
THE NEXT SONG ON MY PLAYLIST:  
        Zac Brown Band Feat. Jimmy Buffett - Knee Deep
Such a holiday song!! 





6 comments:

  1. Wonderful that you are building bridges with your family and that you have all these new gorgeous little people in your life! Loved reading this. xxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love it!!! Love Dans xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Dans ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. Thanks so much Dans ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

      Delete