There’s a Maori proverb that goes: ” Ui mai koe ki ahau he aha te mea nui o te ao, Māku e kī atu he tangata, he tangata, he tangata!” Ask me what is the greatest thing in the world, I will reply: It is people, it is people, it is people!
I *really* miss my people right now. Perhaps I feel it more keenly because my whanau are a lot further away – the expat way of life. Perhaps it is because I am quite an emotionally charged person. Perhaps it is…nope I don’t know the answer why but I do know that I wish I could go home and give Mum and Dad a hug, and the rest of them.
The greatest asset in my life are people – here, there, everywhere (yes, that’s pithy). I am good at expressing that in person, but no so good at keeping in touch when those people aren’t physically in my day-to-day life. As I emailed my aunts and uncles this week, I realised it’s been months (if not a year) since I last did this. I want to be much better at this because these people really matter to me, even though I don’t turn thought into action that often.
My great-uncle Malcolm died earlier this year – he was a true storyteller, with a mischievous smile (like his brother, my Grandad) and I loved him dearly. I’m not sure I told him how much he meant to me but I hope he knew it anyway – I think he did.
I know I am the same with friends – particularly those still in, or back in, NZ. I know I invariably take months to reply to your wonderful emails but know that they sit like treasure in my inbox until I deal with them. I miss you all and 5 years of London-life has not changed that, although it’s less wrenching now than in the first year.
My people have shaped and moulded me, made me a better person (or I like to think so) and they continue to – even from afar.
“The test of love is not when we are together. It comes when we are not together and realize that despite the distance, love is still there.”
I write this for the same reason I wrote yesterday’s post…more for me to write than for you to read. I want to be there for my family right now and I can’t physically.
Adventuring with Fi 