Not necessarily the girlfriend/boyfriend type. I’m talking about the relationship a mother
has with her son, a grandchild has with their grandparent. Even the close relationship between best
friends.
Family doesn’t always mean flesh and blood. I know that blood is meant to be thicker
than water but you hear too many times about parents turning their back on
children, and siblings stealing each others wives. Sometimes it’s the family we choose for ourselves that stand by
us thick and thin.
But what is it about family? I have a very large family. Myself, I grew up an only child as my
brother passed away when I was only two.
Him being just a few months old.
But my mum is one of six and my dad is one of eight, and with that comes
cousins and second cousins and first cousins once removed etc etc.
I don’t think I’ve ever met all my cousins. I’ve certainly never had them all in the
same place at the same time. I have a
few I know well. The ones that used to
visit often when we were growing up, and the one that grew up just down the
road. I grew up in East Sussex and
Liverpool was so far away, but that is the beauty of family. These people that in normal times would be
complete strangers, are part of our lives and we love each other even though we
barely know each other.
We’ve had a couple of Long Lost Family moments of
our own in the last few years. It turns
out that mum doesn’t have six siblings, but six and a half as her dad had a
baby not long before my mum left home.
So, now all grown up, I have an Aunt who is only two years older than
me, and guess what… three more cousins!
Our family has had a big hole in it since way
before I was born. My mum’s biggest
sister moved to Australia when my mum was only three, and they lost contact
with her when their mother died when my mum was only eleven. Aunt Bernadette has always been spoken about
but non of us ever thought we would see her again. How is it so possible to miss someone you’ve never known, but I
have.
We tried writing to Cilla Black, Davina MacCall and
trawling through records to find her with no luck. I even searched Facebook for people with the same name as her and
her two children. Not one lead to
anything. Then last year, on Boxing
Day, we got an announcement we never expected.
Aunt Bernadette had been found.
My auntie Teena gave us the news. We being so far away joined by skype as many
of our other family members crammed into their utility/computer room. There were tears of joy and laughter. The news we had all been waiting for was
finally here.
The six siblings all journeyed to meet her, in
Venice of all places, and finally after 46 years they were all together.
On the 23rd December 2017 I finally got
to meet my long lost aunt. It was
amazing. She had travelled all the way
from Australia to spend Christmas with us all and cook us Christmas dinner with
Teena. Her thirty plus hours of travel
put our six and a half to shame. It was
an amazing few days, going round to their last remaining aunts and uncle and
hearing them all share stories of the past.
Watching my great uncle, who is 92 and partially
blind, look at his niece and say 'I never thought I would see you again' broke
my heart. We spent days each of us in
turn crying, sometimes setting the other off.
We are a very emotional family it turns out!
But the strangest thing is, even though I had never
met her before and even after five days of speaking, I barely even know
her. I love her. She is family. It is like she’s never been away.
about the book... What if
you’re in love with another woman’s man? Casey
Turner finds herself sad and single again after a seven-year relationship. Having suffered multiple miscarriages, she is adjusting to the realisation she
will never be a mum, just as all her friends are getting married and having
children. Feeling
alone, she finds herself drawn to a man she can’t have: her ex’s best friend. Although he has a girlfriend, she can’t stay away. But does he really care for
her, too, or is he just having his cake and eating it? Torn between her feelings
and her morals, is Casey destined to follow the wrong path, or will she see
sense before time runs out? Available now on Amazon and the launch party is on January 12th... Join the party Book Launch
about the author... Carrie-Ann
lives in South East England with her three children, her cats and her dog with
her mum just a short drive away. She is never bored. She fills her time with
reading, writing, tv series binge watching, amateur dramatics, dog walks,
dinner with friends, the park, taking her children to clubs and the odd glass
or three of something alcoholic.
Carrie-Ann
is a self confessed Social Media addict who can normally be found somewhere
floating around the World Wide Web. However, learning to use it for marketing
has been a trying experience. She would love you to get in touch by connecting
to her on Facebook or on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and other sites. All can
be found at http://www.carrieannschless.com
as well as her blog.
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