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Sunday, 29 August 2010

Love

This could be seen as the cop-out post. But I don't feel well and want to get this post written so I can return to normal blogging!

Basically, the my last 4 entries: Friends, God, Weddings, and Family all speak of Love and show Love. And so I would just be repeating myself.

So, without meaning to sound too much like Hugh Grant in Love Actually - here's to Love in all it's many forms! Without it life would be meaningless. It is the only thing that sustains through thick and thin. It constantly breathes hope. It makes this life so very worth living.

Wednesday, 4 August 2010

Family

So I’ve not written on my blog for ages. But that has something to do with getting married a month and a half ago and time flying by!

So here I am again, now a married woman, and here to finish the little series on my top tags, and then to hopefully continue blogging as normal :)

Two weeks before our wedding I moved back in with my family. I need not go into the reasons why now, but going back meant returning to an atmosphere of regular arguments and lots of irritation. When you have lived away from home since university, going back for more than a couple of nights can be pretty difficult. I always seem to resort to my old teenage self – answering my dad back constantly, finding my brother’s taste in music incredibly annoying, and finding my mum’s nagging more than I can bear. However, whilst these things do happen, they are far outweighed by the joy of being family. Yes, there are issues in our family, just like there are in many others. But I am incredibly blessed to have a family that is still together, that love each other and support each other through thick and thin, and who were willing to take me back into the home to live for what is the final and probably most stressful stage of the wedding planning. That is love, that is patience, that is kindness, and that is being part of something. I have a really good relationship with my mum, being her only daughter and someone she can do girly things with, and can buy pretty things for (hehe, can’t complain about that). My dad and I argue a lot and often struggle to understand each other, but he has real strength when I am struggling with things, and his love is always clearest when I have made a mess of things, or when my computer is misbehaving! And, my brothers are two of my best friends. The eldest and I are closest in age – we often know what the other is thinking, share each other’s thoughts, and are naturally protective of each other. The youngest and I have very similar, slightly crazy, personalities and would probably be friends even if we weren’t siblings.

My family have been an unswerving foundation of love and support through life - from all those little tantrums and mad moments through to my exams, several essays, two dissertations, moving home many times, fundraising to go to Brazil, and most recently the wedding.

The wedding was wonderful and we didn't want it to end, but none of it, including the honeymoon afterwards, would have been possible without both mine and my husband's families. They gave us so much more than financial support - they all helped us move our tonnes of stuff from our house share with friends to the flat we have started married life in, my husband's brother was the best man, my brothers were ushers - the youngest was also the Master of Ceremonies at the reception and he also co-wrote with me the stories which went on each table. My mum helped with choosing the flowers. My dad, who has wonderful italic handwriting, wrote the invitations. Our brothers helped make the invitations and orders of service, along with a couple of our fab friends. My mum, her youngest sister, and my brothers helped make the placenames in a mad rush the day before the wedding. My dad selected all the wine, being a bit of a conneisseur of such things. And on the day itself they were all brilliant!

I am close to them all, as aforementioned, although my dad and I often have differences of opinion, argue a fair amount, and don't get to talk as much as I do with the others. The moments spent alone with him in the car on the way to the church were some of the most special we've ever spent together. I was proud to walk up the aisle arm in arm with him; I have never seen him enjoying himself as much as he did at our wedding. And that is a case in point - often we take our families for granted but precious moments like this cause our hearts to swell in love and gratitude, and you know that you wouldn't have them any other way.