Wednesday 30 December 2015

2015...a special Christmas

 
Three years ago on Christmas Eve I said goodbye to my family and flew to London to live. It was a 27 hour flight I had never taken before & a new kind of lifestyle ahead and with no family connections.

To make my journey smoother my lovely mother and sister gifted me with little flight care packages. My mum 27 scratch and win tickets, one for each hour of flying and my sister 27 little presents just to keep me in the Christmas spirit. It was so entertaining that during the time spent circling above Heathrow on Christmas morning I had to rush to finish scratching and unwrapping the presents! (Mum and Dad always told us to appreciate our Christmas moments).
 
This year's Christmas tree :)
At 7am on Christmas Day I landed in London, presents in hand, excitement in heart and a huge amount of family love with me despite being hemispheres apart. To handle the jetlag as best as possible I walked from my apartment in Notting Hill to Kensington Gardens where I sat surrounded by vivacious squirrels and heard the excitement of British children running to the Princess Diana Memorial play park shouting 'Can we play yet Daddy?!' It instantly reminded me of home; children playing on Christmas day surrounded by family.
 
This year I was again away from home, in London, except this year is a super special year. I now know part of my English family I have never met, I have my old friends from years gone by and some brilliant new ones. But most of all I have  the same gifts (I purposely re bought them for myself) my family once gave me all three years ago when I first took the leap of faith and jumped ship, so it feels like they were right here with me. Every time I put my Mor Belladonna hand cream on I'm reminded of the flight instantly and how distance will never separate how close I am to my family. I guess until recently, when I started missing them again and for the first time in a while put on my hand  cream again did I realise that scent was a beautiful way to remember the true gift I have for Christmas and every day. To make things more special this Christmas my mother sent baubles all the way from Australia with each of my family member's names on them so I could decorate my tree. My friends and I joined together on Christmas day, sharing secret Santa gifts, laughing and bringing together a Christmas dinner pulled together by everyone playing their part. It was my version of the play park with family, my London family and it made this Christmas so very special.
 
Special baubles from my lovely mother delivered from Aus
 
My London 'family' for Christmas this year- a bunch of travelling orphans...and a whole lot of fun!
 
To all my readers, I trust you enjoyed your Christmas. I hope you cherish the old and the new, recognize the real gifts of Christmas and find a way to keep them in your heart, not just on Christmas but all year long.

Julia
 


 

 



 
 

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