Way back in December 2006, we met up with Stacey's cousin David, who was visiting the country from Australia. Stacey had the opportunity to spend the afternoon with him, catching up on old times and family stories, and I joined them for coffee.
Top, a photo of David and Stacey taken during his visit to Wellington in late 2006. Next is Stacey with Andrew (Stacey's other cousin) and his wife, Jackie. They live with their two children in Dunedin on the South Island (Editor's note: It's is cold there right now, so we hope they are keeping warm!). We visited Andrew and Jackie during our last trip to New Zealand in 2005 and had a great time. I have funny memories of us tip-toeing around the topic of politics until everyone realised that we all despised "W" and were then free to speak our minds.
Among the handful of photos that David brought with him for show-and-tell was this gem. I suspect historians would date this scene as sometime in the late 1970's, based on the clothing and hairstyles. In the top middle is Stacey's father Ian, flanked on the left by her brother Paul (in green) and right by brother Mark (in the black T and with apparently very red hair). In front of Paul is John (who now lives in Bermuda). Down in front from left to right is Stacey's Aunt Rosemary, Stacey (holding Gus the Dachsund) then cousins Andrew (in front) and David.
Stacey speaking now: It has been good to meet the 'grown-up' versions of my cousins Andrew and David. I have only vague (and not terribly pleasant) memories of their visit to the states in the 70s and the incredibly LONG trip down to Florida and Walt Disney World. For me, my most vivid memory is John getting carsick and throwing up in the car. But, when we met up with Andrew, he had such great stories about the trip and our visit to the Kennedy Space Center. Evidently, the trip was more enjoyable for him than for me! :-) Andrew has lived in NZ, the US, Canada (where he met his wife Jackie), and Australia. And, people were impressed with OUR move! Andrew & Jackie seem to love Dunedin--WAY too cold for us!
David used to live in Wellington, but he soon cleared out when he heard we were moving here! Just kidding--he's been gone for several years. He gave up the wind and (sometimes) crappy weather to live by the beach in Australia. Luckily for us, he still owns property here so he comes "across the ditch" once a year to check up on it which is when we got to meet him. He LOVES living by the beach, and thinks Andrew is crazy for living in Dunedin! (He probably thinks the same of me & William, but was too nice to say so!)
Both Andrew and David have gone out of their way to offer us advice and assistance which was a huge help during and after our move. With our immediate family so far away, it has been reassuring to renew connections with the relatives I lost touch with due to distance and lack of communication.
2 comments:
Stacey, you should grow your hair back out... and then feather it!!!
Thank you for posting this blog.
I disagree in your comments about W-but, then, I would think you would.
Ian
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