strange, this mother/daughter relationship...

"we've never really been a demonstrative family" me mum said today as she handed me an envelope, "and I'm not very good at saying how I feel" - so it was touching when I read the card she gave me...

seems that our relationship is changing - we get on a lot better now... all the powers of attorney (medical and general) have been sorted... we're talking about what she really wants at the end... she can still get around sort of... she gets so very tired so very easily... and she's a lot more feeble now... that's a shock - for her as well!!! - but she's still wanting to be so very independent - that's my mum for you!!!

we had a good talk and laugh looking through some photos today... she's going to go through all her photos and write what she remembers on each of them (none of us have ever really been good at 'organising' that sort of stuff - Judy's photos are just shoved into a box!!!!)

so many memories in that box though - from me great-grandmother (Nanny Great!!) who ran away from New Zealand with a catholic priest!!! - to me great-grandfather who was gay - he and my great-grandmother (Nanny Bev) did what was expected of them (at a time when the only accepted relationships were heterosexual) - they had kids... me nan had the mandatory family and could 'hold her head high' as a "fulfilled woman" - but she didn't have to have the man around all the time... Grandfather, having married and 'bred', could live his life (he was an 'artiste' - very bohemian!!!) and spend his time with his actual life partner, Les.

Ooh, there are soooo many stories - Grandfather was actually my step-great-grandfather, my grandfather was my nan's second husband (in a time when divorce wasn't easy!!!) - she threw the first husband out - he was apparently a no-hoping womanizer!!!!

Maybe some of the pictures I get from me mum will inspire me to write about some of these people in depth...

anyway I'm off for eleven days straight starting from this saturday - so I can see myself blogging a bit more then...