Uncle Warwick.

This past year has been difficult in so many ways for so many people due to the covid pandemic. For me personally, being separated from my family has been the hardest part. Although I have a few close and caring friends nearby there is nothing quite like being amongst your own tribe. When the Pandemic hit and all international travel was forced to stop I was 6 weeks away from giving birth for the first time. I had solid plans to have my Mother and my Dean(her husband) come to Australia for a ten day visit when I was 8 months pregnant... then return again for the birth and for two weeks following as I really just wanted family around guiding me through the motions of being a new mother and how the hell you are meant to take care of a tiny person. How to bathe them. How to feed them. When to put them to sleep. When to wake them up. How to dress them. How to wrap them. How to hold them. How to burp them. How to make the bed. What temperature should their room be... everything! Yes, I read all the books and had all the textbook knowledge offered to mothers of newborns so admittedly I wasn't completely lost but I really needed my tribe then... so much. Not just to guide me but to be a part of one of the most important times of my life and the life of my new son. I wanted him to have his snuggles with his Grandparents and eventually my siblings and their families too. I really wanted that bonding for them. The smells. The warm touches. 
Here we are almost one year on and I still have not been able to introduce my son to my tribe. I am absolutely desperate for the NZ and Australia bubble to open and allow us to travel without quarantine. Why am I talking about this now? I received a message from nz today letting me know that my Uncle Warwick had passed away and it just made me so homesick... just wanting to be with my family more than ever... who are all together celebrating Easter at the Grandparents lake house. I just wish I was in the kitchen prepping dinner with my mum and my sisters while the boys play board games or fight over screen time making it hard for Grandad and my brother hear the daily news. I just want everyone I love to live forever and for visiting to be allowed again. 
Sending all my love today to my Aunty Trish (Warwicks wife) and my cuzzies. He was a good man with a kind heart and that is how I will remember him. 

Borrowed Pic.