I keep a small part of my heart cocooned from my day to day life. It is something I do sub-consciously. I’ve noticed, over the years of living as an expat, so very far away from my country of birth, that I do this. Today I felt like a caterpillar, preparing to transform into a butterfly. I am beginning to let a piece of my heart fly free for a while. That part of my heart started to push its way forth today. I felt excited and a little over-whelmed. For two whole years that part of me has been in a cocoon. It’s a part of me that is filled with the deepest love. The love of a child for its parents.
Tomorrow, I will be a daughter again, for real. Not a daughter on a video-conference or a daughter at the end of a phone line or an e-mail. I feel very fortunate to have both my parents alive and well in my life, but seeing them infrequently is painful. The times we have, when we’re together, are the best times of my life. I can’t wait to greet them at the airport tomorrow and share the craziness of my family life with them (they have been preparing themselves with five day’s in Sydney – adjusting a little to the southern hemisphere time-zone and dosing up on vitamins and sunshine in preparation for facing their three very excited grand-daughters!).
I have been incredibly busy shifting around furniture and negotiating with my oldest daughters so that we can give my parents a space of comfort to retreat to in the evening (or whenever needed!). It’s looking good and finished off with touches of love – flowers gathered from the garden, artwork and writing from Sophie, a painting from Charlotte that she did with her Grandma the last time they were together, a photograph from me of my Mum with her mother, her sister and her other daughter – (my dear sister who is visiting in April 2012!).
They will arrive to a week of entertainment and fun, with Sophie’s 6th Birthday party on Wednesday, Christmas celebrations and then a trip away up the Kapiti coast to see in the New Year.
This will be their first Christmas in the southern hemisphere and thankfully the rain of the last week has ceased and sunshine is forecast. We shall be filling the vases with pohutukawa blooms, firing up the BBQ and dancing in our jandals.
And, if the girls have their way, there will be lots and lots of dancing, singing, music making and acting!
It’s not always harmonious, there are sometimes tears between the laughter, but overall we are having the very best of fun and can’t wait to share. Little do my parents know (though they probably suspect) that they already have parts assigned to them for the Christmas play… the photo below was taken during this morning’s rehearsals and planning meeting!
Oh yes, my heart is soon to be whole. My wings are unfurling from the tight cocoon. Tomorrow my wings will embrace the sweet scent of my dear parents. I will wrap my arms around them. I will stand back and see my children embrace their grandparents. My heart will skip a beat for a moment and then settle into the happiest of rhythms.
