And the most important of these is LOVE

I'm on holiday at the moment with my family in Kaitaia, Northland.  We are staying at Mr D’s sister’s place, which is a Tamarillo orchard.  They have all sorts of interesting things for the kids to do here and they love it… a pool, trampoline, chickens, sheep, cows, flax weaving, table tennis, dove feeding.  We came a year ago as well, and the children loved it so much they asked if we could come again.  So here we are…

Pineapples growing in the shadehouse

The tamarillos

Miss A feeding a dove

Matai Bay - just stunning

Digging their own bath at Matai Bay

The sheep following Mr B into the shed

At Kerikeri, the Stone Store in the background

Ms F's chickens

Collecting eggs

Homemade pizza's

Miss M's photo of the sheep

Miss A giving Billy the sheeps' head a scratch

                                              

Yesterday I had a phone call from a friend, who was my tutor while studying Interior Design, as she wanted to check up on me.  This is because just a few weeks ago, ten days before Christmas, we lost a friend to breast cancer.  Her loss at such a young age has shocked us both to the core, and we have been left reeling and questioning the meaning of our lives and re-assessing our values, needs and desires.  

Donna was an amazing woman, also in her second marriage, with a husband who adored her, an 11 year daughter she loved more than anything else in the world, and two stepchildren aged 12 and 14 that she had cherished and nurtured for the last 8 years.  She had a career she loved and was building up a successful Interior Design practice.  She was meticulous and very creative.  She was a straight shooter, she didn’t mince words. She was an amazing hostess, as soon as anyone arrived at her place she was arranging cheese, crackers and fruit on a platter and offering beverages! And she loved God.  We connected through our faith, we are both Christians, and through the Montessori school our children attended.  She helped me through some difficult times during the demise of my first marriage and I was looking forward to being able to glean some wisdom from her about blended families.  Donna and I connected very quickly at our class, even though we never became best buddies.  This was probably because of her highly competitive nature, and because she had a goal in mind, to be the top student of the class that year.  We were neck to neck throughout the year!  But she got her goal, which didn’t bother me in the least.  Which is why I was so shocked at her passing, I just assumed she would beat Cancer as she attained whatever goal she set for herself.

Donna

                                          

Life is so fragile.  It can be gone so quickly.  My sister in law lost her only daughter nearly a year ago to an aneurysm, Emma was 27.  She had just fallen in love and was excited about her future.  Even with her difficulties (she had a mild case of cerebal palsy and Aspergers) she had a zest for life and had qualified as an early childhood teacher and had a full time job at a childcare facility, was living alone in her own flat, had a lovely boyfriend and was actively involved with her church.

Why were these lovely woman taken?  I don’t know.  But I do know they lived their lives to the full.  I know that once diagnosed with cancer, Donna understood how important it was to relish every moment, with her husband, her children, her family and her friends. 

It has re-affirmed to me the importance of the people in my life.  They are worth more than any amount of money you could throw at me, worth more than any material item I could ever possess, worth more than a beautiful and immaculate home overlooking the water, worth more than being able to buy whatever I want whenever I want.  Why?  Because people are irreplaceable, they are priceless.  So I will always choose spending time with my family and friends over anything else I could have.  I will forgo designer clothing and products for relationships every time.  I will spend my money in ways to further these relationships rather than on things that can breakdown or wear-out.  So Mr D and I take our kids on holiday, often.  We have meals out with our family and friends.  We go bowling, to the Skytower for high tea, and luging in Rotorua. We take the kid’s on tours, rock-climbing, and mini-golfing. We have picnics at the beach, go for bushwalks and ice-skating. Have mid-winter Christmas dinners, dinner parties, special birthday dinners and cakes and anything else that will help build relationship with the ones we already know and love and with those we want to know.  Because to me, to us, this is what life is about. Building and cultivating relationships.

Picnic with Katie-pai and family

Dove feeding shenanigans

Family picnic by the Stone Store - Kerikeri

Family picnic at Cornwall Park with Nana and Emma

Family meal with cousin Kate and Uncle Jon