Happy Christmas

The car is packed to the brim not an inch of space anywhere, ready for its journey west. The anticipation of Christmas dinner is beginning to take hold and with it the deep pleasure of being amongst family.
Families are flung far and wide these days the regular "must pop over to see Mom" of yesteryear is missing and the route march today has to be carefully planned.
A 25 hour plane journey is no small undertaking and we begin to rely on the phone and the marvel of internet communication with its video link to remind us what the person we are talking to looks like today. This is a virtual world come to fruition. Our lives will pass along a well worn path but never cross the people we love the most, our sons and daughters, our mothers and fathers, our grandchildren, each one now represented by a video image. 
Of course it is so much better than the occasional letter we used to write and the even more the occasional telephone call usually around this time of the year, rather its the scale of the atomised family setting that makes one wonder. 
The accessibility of ones friends and family is important, the arms length conversation, the tactile hug every so often makes us human and draws on the innate bonds established over many years. 

So we settle for second best and count our blessings.

Happy Christmas 

From John Marie Angela & Andrew