There is Always Time for Family

If you’re like me, you most likely have family that lives in all parts of Australia or the world. Myself, I have family that lives in Melbourne, Noosa (Queensland), Mansfield (Victoria) and even Papua New Guinea. When you have family that lives not so close to home it can be hard to keep in touch or even visit them on a regular basis.

We all have those excuses not to take the trip to see our family; we get caught up in work, we’re too busy, we can’t afford it and the list goes on and on. And because of this, we don’t end up taking the time to see our family and we may even lose touch with them.

For me it really hit home last year, I fortunately didn’t lose any family members or anyone close, but unfortunately my friend lost his father and my girlfriend lost her grandfather (at the ripe old age of 96!). And it got me thinking, my grandmother moved to Queensland a number of years ago and I hadn’t seen her since she made the move. Sure I rang her on her birthdays, sent her birthday and Christmas cards, but that’s just not the same as spending time with them. I also had an Aunty and Uncle that lived in Queensland and I hadn’t taken the time to go see them either, the only time I’d seen them was when they’d make the time to come to Melbourne.

I’m not super close to my grandmother or Aunty and Uncle but that wasn’t really the point, so I put all those common excuses aside, booked a trip to Queensland with my mother and girlfriend and went to visit my grandma. We had a great time and most importantly was able to spend time with my grandma and see my Aunty and Uncle, and we got in a bit of R & R for ourselves.

My grandma just turned 95 (fingers crossed I’ve inherited her genes) and going strong, but you don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring or how much time you have left with someone, and family is always important no matter what. I guess what I’m trying to say with all this is put aside any excuses and take the time to see your family and make sure you stay in touch, as none of us can predict what tomorrow will bring.

Peter Folk