TO LIFE, & LOVE
“Should I shave my beard off so I don’t give the baby a rash when kissing him or her?”
Our home has become a nesting place for all. I suggested at a recent family dinner the idea of selling our house and the outcry was deafening, from “You can’t sell our home, that just isn’t right!” to “I have never lived anywhere else, you couldn’t do that to me!” As most of our generation is downsizing and selling the family home and buying an apartment or moving out of the city to a smaller town, for us it seems we will still be living in the family home for some time yet.
I guess I’m quite happy to stay put. Whenever I am away travelling I love coming home. It would feel quite strange arriving back to a different place, it somehow wouldn’t feel like home. Our place is filled with so many family memories I am not ready to part with. I look around and remember family moments that happened and get very nostalgic. And so we won’t be selling any time soon.
With that decision behind us, we are now talking about renovations for the future. I’m still not quite sure how our conversation went from ‘What about we sell?’ to ‘And the new kitchen could go here with a butler’s pantry there, and we need a garage that perhaps has a sink in it’. The thought of renovations leaves me cold and so I can’t see that happening for a long time yet either.
We have of course been nesting of late. Cupboards that I don’t think have been opened for some months (if not years), boxes with ‘stuff’ that hasn’t seen the light of day have now had their contents redistributed or completely thrown out. A new bed is being bought, and new drawers have been purchased. My wife sits on the sofa at night, knitting! The reason? Our daughter and her husband are coming home and moving in with us to have their first baby, our first grandchild. We are all very excited as the countdown has begun.
It has been many years since we have had a newborn in our home; I had forgotten what it is like. I arrived home the other night and there were two huge boxes with a pram waiting for us. Many of our conversations now start with ‘When the baby is born...’ or ‘After the baby is born...’
My latest dilemma is should I shave off the beard I have grown over summer so I don’t give the baby a rash when kissing him or her? Clean-shaven or not, I cannot wait to see who is going to be arriving into our family. They already have an excited uncle and aunt waiting for them and grandparents that are so excited we get all kind of smiley and gooey when we think of them.
In truth, I have no idea of what it’s going to be like. Our friends with grandchildren all say it is the best thing in their lives and they just love the relationships they have with their grandchildren. It will be quite strange having a new baby in our home. I don’t think they are going to notice the boxes that have been repacked and the new set of drawers, but one thing is clear: they are being welcomed into a home full of love, and they will create so much joy. I am sure of that.
This is our 16th year birthday issue. I really can’t believe all that time has passed, as I still remember writing my first editorial at the family dining room table, the same table on which I am writing this editorial. Our youngest had only just turned five and they were very busy days juggling everything. Sixteen years on, I am so proud of what we have created and I thank you all for being part of the success of MiNDFOOD. We create, and always will create, a magazine we love that makes people think and help them along in life’s journey.
I feel I have shared much of what is going on in my life with you over the past 16 years in my editorials and so on the eve of becoming a grandparent, there will no doubt be much more I will be sharing from our dining room table.
I never imagined MiNDFOOD would become what it has become today. Much like a newborn, there is always so much expectation. Here’s to new life and love.