Footy, FruChocs & Family
August 2022
7 very special humans took the long flight from Huntington Beach, California, and landed in Adelaide airport just a week ago. The bond between them and my whole family is attributed to the many hand written letters that my mum and their dad wrote to each other in the early 60’s, after my mum migrated to Adelaide, their dad to New York, leaving their Italian town of Avelino. My mum and their dad are first cousins. Esterina and Felicio Raffaele aka Rina and Ralph.
1987. I meet them for the first time. Instantaneous warmth, acceptance, love; welcomed with open arms into their home. Looking back, I don’t know how we all fit. But I have zero memories of feeling crammed, only glowing memories of their generosity, the laughter, the Christmas lights and Disneyland. Magical.
2009, I wanted my own children to meet their American relatives and their children. Dream come true. All the children ranging in ages from just 10-4, alighting the rides in Disneyland, shopping, eating Pop tarts, sharing bedrooms, just as I had.
Fast forward to 2022. Today. The ‘children’, now aged between 23 and 17, with new additions under 12, their parents and grandparents, connecting with the generations of family, in Adelaide. Cleland, kangaroos, koalas, Penfolds, Light Cycles, Henley beach, Glenelg, Hahndorf, Lot 100, violet crumbles, McLaren Vale, Willunga, vegemite, meat pies, home cooked feasts, footy, fruchocs and Family.
My heart is full.
The power and strength of family bonds that have spanned 3 generations, across the globe, will live on.
This is Rina and Ralph’s legacy, hand in hand with their true loves, Fred and Arlene.
Society’s quests for success and the search for ‘happiness’ cause me to ponder the obvious disparity between possessions and status, compared with our basic human need and lust for trust, and acceptance, our big Why we live our lives. It cannot be bought. It takes a commitment to routinely show up, a yearning persistence to stay in touch, a heartfelt connection that shares pain, vulnerability and hardship while simultaneously celebrating milestones, life and love, and what it really means to be a son, a daughter, a brother, a sister, a cousin, a husband, a wife, an aunty, an uncle, a partner, a parent or a grandparent.
How do you define happiness, how do you show up for others and what legacy will you leave? Connect with me to explore your purpose and quest for life!