Togetherness

After six weeks of togetherness we farewelled Chinese Grandma & Granddad on Valentine’s Day.

They dropped off Charlotte & Sophie at school and said a brave good-bye. In the afternoon, Dan, Alice and I took them to the airport and had one last coffee together. We don’t know when we’ll meet next, but hopefully it won’t be another three and a half years.

When time together is rare, it is treasured time indeed. We were aware of making the moments count and of filling them with memories to hold close to our hearts.

The day before Chinese Grandma & Granddad made the long journey back to England was a very special day of togetherness.

Wellington put on one of its best days for us, from sunrise to sunset. None of us wanted it to end. Even Alice seemed to know it was a very special last day of togetherness. She staggered around in the late evening, way past her bedtime, walking until she nearly fell asleep mid-stride. Charlotte finally crashed on the sofa around 10.30pm, too hot to sleep upstairs and perhaps wanting to be close to her Grandparents in the adjoining room. Sophie needed a drive to calm her down and finally surrendered to sleep after 9.00pm.

Memories are richer than gold. We shall treasure this time always. Thank you Chinese Grandma and Granddad for braving the long flight (and ‘Our Jim’ will be well looked after!).

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Linking up with Week 46 of ‘The Gallery’ – the theme this week is ‘Togetherness’