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The hard work of families
Families are hard work. Whether they’re the ones you’re born into, the ones you marry into, or the ones you grow along the way, the roads are full of bumps and bruises, tears and hurt feelings, temper tantrums, secrets and exasperation. Of course, they’re balanced by – and hopefully tipped in favour of – sweet memories and raucous laughter, sticky fingers and kisses, stolen glances shared moments and celebrations. I grew up in a very small family. My parents were immigrants from the UK, so every time we sat down for dinner it was a family reunion. But even back in… Read more…
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First tentative steps to normal
I had my first socially-distanced back yard get together with more than two people a few weeks ago. With a bit of fear and trepidation, I emailed a few single girlfriends and suggested that if their risk tolerance was high enough, that we might sit in my back garden for a few hours, drink wine and catch up in person – for the first time in months. In fact the last time I saw this particular group of lovely ladies was for my “going away” dinner, just before my sabbatical got stomped on by COVID-19.We were very good – we sat… Read more…
