One of the neighbours we connected with was a family from the Netherlands. Their lives mirrored our own as they too had recently relocated with a toddler in tow, exactly the same age as ours...
How lonely my life could’ve been had I stuck to my culture which tells me to value the thick ties of family above all else...
We have come together not because of blood, but because we share bonds of a common outlook on life…
Read More
Imagine the chaos of the first few years: Romanian, German and English mixed together in a way that it took us sometimes minutes to realize what exactly it was that our own children were trying to tell us…
Read More
Even though my grandmother has been diagnosed with dementia, she still proudly kits up with her 'wedding purse' on her way to the bank, or to the grocery store…
Read More
My blue eyes and straight nose a legacy of Northern Europe and gifts from my ancestors…
Read More
The flight might have been long and I had worried about the cost of the airfare, but from where I was sitting, none of that mattered anymore and this was the sweetest part of my trip…
Read More
“He’s English, but we won’t hold that against him.” That’s probably one of the nicer remarks he invariably makes whenever anything touching the subject of England comes up…
Read More
My dad’s anger had been a constant in my world of inconsistencies…
Read More
Declarations such as “shame on them”, “I’d rather my daughter died than bring dishonour to the family”, “she must’ve dabbled in black magic to brainwash that poor boy”, and “I hope they’re found and shamed publicly” were made with great gusto, and to my adolescent brain, conjured up horrific visions which nearly made me throw up my dinner...
Read More
In the past 6 years I have watched my mum utterly transform - a shift that started the first day she stepped into her chosen university. She went from calling us about the location of her saved files to independently researching university databases and overloading her bookmarks tab...
Read More
I visit my grandad’s grave and give unrequited apologies to a piece of stone – forever an unforgiving experience...
Read More
"I remember my late wife, she was a stunner. She made my knees cave in and my heart pound. It pounded for 40 years before she peacefully passed away," was the gentleman's candid reply...
Read More
My family and my blood are in Alaska. My heart will hold up north and I fool no one. But my also “family” exists as much to me down in Texas and California, Washington and Tokyo...
Read More
A young, beautiful virgin caught the eye of a djinn as she rested under the cool shade of a banyan tree at sunset, only to wake up completely insane. The djinn had decided that since he couldn't have the lovely earth-maiden, no one would...
Read More