Families

I have been thinking about my family, it is not large and I find it difficult to envisage those people who have hundreds of cousins in far-flung parts of the world. It has been a difficult year for our family for a number of reasons but I think that we have emerged from it much stronger.

There is always a rock at the heart of all family life, and that in our case is Marion. It is not that the world revolves around her but the fact that Marion makes the world revolve. Marion sends out so much love that it keeps everybody smiling and that by her subterfuginous (is that a word) ways keeps the wheels turning, particularly when those around her are being less than helpful. Above all Marion provides the humour that drives reminiscences. Also without her none of us would get to where we have to be on time, well fed and dressed.

Children our both a trial and a joy, and that is certainly true of ours. We have had a great week with our daughter. First of all in her inimitable style she has organised us, cupboards are now tidy and future plans made. She he has put me right on the mores of the younger generation and filled me in on celebrity culture. She also has to be a foil for our political arguments. Last night our daughter also reminded us that she is crazy, I took her to the beach and she swam in the cold North Sea for 20 minutes. Now I found it difficult to get in a Provencal pool, to swim in a sea that is 20 degrees colder fills me with admiration.

Our son manages a demanding job and a family with aplomb. I admire him for his core values and the way that he is imparting those to his children. He also constantly surprises me with his risk taking and entrepreneurship. It is great to witness a young person striving so hard to make their way in the world. He has contrary views on some things but that only makes for some good arguments, even if he is always wrong.

No family would be complete without some dizzy blondes, and we have three a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. All of them in their different ways keep us grounded. I can only marvel how our daughter-in-law juggles a demanding job with the challenges of bringing up two small girls. Fantastic is all I can say, and those two little girls generate a ray of sunshine through the gloomiest of days.

So when I think on it I am really lucky to have a great family, however so that they do not get to above themselves I might detail their faults in a future blog. There is one that they all have in common from the youngest to the oldest, they do not unconditionally agree with me all of the time.