Category: Family
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Rituals of Remembering
Remembering is not about replaying the past, but reconstructing it. It matters then what we remember. In each recalling we shape our sense of self. In a birthday tribute, I recall the good things about my dad and why this matters to me.
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Life lessons from Spain – Embracing change and new found independence
It’s been a month – a whole month – since I returned from swanning around Spain. Almost a distant memory, but I’m currently sorting out my hundreds of photos and thinking about how nice life would be if we could just sit around drinking sangria in the sun, eating tapas, all day.
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Embracing Life’s Meaning: Choosing lychee martinis and love and everything in between.
We’re of an age where we start to wonder “what’s it all about”. Joyfully, the answer is “whatever you want it to be.” And also lychee martinis.
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Flown the Coop – The nest is half empty
Last week our eldest child flew the coop. Empty nester stage looms large. But that nomenclature annoys me. I’m renaming it Graduated, and thinking of parenting as flight school, instead.
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Reflections on 21 years of marriage. AKA: growing old together is a privilege
It’s our wedding anniversary this weekend. From the vantage point of kids almost out of school, looking back across our lives together, I’m reminded that life is a winding, undulating road with ups and downs. And it takes commitment to the relationship, and respect for the individuals within it, to keep walking it together.
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The times they are a changing…
This week our eldest child graduated from high school. There are still a set of exams to complete, but formal schooling is done and dusted. It is a momentous milestone in the life of any child. But it’s also a pretty huge “WTF??” for us. You don’t really notice time passing. You just notice the…
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Death and the Rituals we use to Navigate Life
Today my father would have turned 77. He died over ten years ago, not quite reaching his 67th birthday. It is somewhat alarming to think that in 16 years’ time I will be the same age as he was when he died. We are not very good at thinking honestly about death. But as I…
Midlife Unpacked 