And here’s a compliment for Justine, Callie (my siblings' other halves) and my husband: it takes a bit of courage to marry into it.
But here’s the thing: our family structure has basically remained the same for thirty years. Sure, the kids have gone off and married, but that just starts new families. My own family – my dad Rian, my mom Adlene, sister Elanie, brother Neel and me– we’re like a tree that has grown deeper roots, that has stood through its share of summers and winters, balmy afternoons and stormy nights. A family tree that bears on its bark the scars of life’s attacks, but that bears in its branches the fruit of many years of labour.
But now, suddenly, in a way that did not seem that noticeable when Daniel arrived six years ago, the earth around our ‘family tree’ is sprouting with life. Of course, some four months ago, Emma made her first appearance. Last night, with a speed that astounded everyone including his parents, Auguste Adrian Ettienne Potgieter arrived to join us.
Arrivals and announcements. The blessing of children being brought into the craziness that is this life and my family. It’s more than just the next generation. It’s a legacy, a monument to my parents being written not in the stone of a plaque, but in the smile of a boy, the first cries of a baby, in the tiny sonar heartbeat of someone we have yet to meet. It’s a whole new chapter in the story, the tree being turned into a forest before our eyes. I can’t wait to see how it unfolds.
But here’s the thing: our family structure has basically remained the same for thirty years. Sure, the kids have gone off and married, but that just starts new families. My own family – my dad Rian, my mom Adlene, sister Elanie, brother Neel and me– we’re like a tree that has grown deeper roots, that has stood through its share of summers and winters, balmy afternoons and stormy nights. A family tree that bears on its bark the scars of life’s attacks, but that bears in its branches the fruit of many years of labour.
But now, suddenly, in a way that did not seem that noticeable when Daniel arrived six years ago, the earth around our ‘family tree’ is sprouting with life. Of course, some four months ago, Emma made her first appearance. Last night, with a speed that astounded everyone including his parents, Auguste Adrian Ettienne Potgieter arrived to join us.
I am also bursting with excitement and love to be able to tell you that Elanie is today 12 weeks pregnant with her and Callie’s firstborn.
Arrivals and announcements. The blessing of children being brought into the craziness that is this life and my family. It’s more than just the next generation. It’s a legacy, a monument to my parents being written not in the stone of a plaque, but in the smile of a boy, the first cries of a baby, in the tiny sonar heartbeat of someone we have yet to meet. It’s a whole new chapter in the story, the tree being turned into a forest before our eyes. I can’t wait to see how it unfolds.
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