I have been away for a week in a Karoo guesthouse with my kids, my parents and my sister and her children. There were eight other families here – most of us new to each other.
Each family, and specifically each marriage, is different in their make up but they do have a simple thing in common. There is deep care between the husbands and wives.
It is an almost a visible golden thread between each couple. It fascinates me. I have been studying the men in particular. They seem to connect in a deep way with their wives and their children. It’s not simply that they are in the room or on the trampoline or tennis court. It is that they are completely, totally and utterly there eating breakfast or riding bikes or reading.
They are fully present and intact. There is something for the wives and children to reach out and connect with. There are no multiple calls for attention before being noticed, no angry battles about who turn it is do this or that between spouses and lots of laughter.
They are taking care of each other by simply being present. The families are aware and actively being with each other.
It's a peaceful, beautiful thing and I want it.
16h10 on Wednesday 5 October 2011
I have been considering this post all day. And I think I have absorbed it. The only way to have this golden thread in my own relationships is to offer it.
I need to just be with my family – and in return a family that will be with me will be offered.