Last night my mother's side of the family, plus lots of friends and people who my parents have known for years but barely see because they don't live in Broome, all piled into our home to celebrate my aunt's 60th birthday. It was a very nice evening, nothing bad happened, lots of drinking, dancing and laughing, eating and a bit more drinking happened, and all in all, was a good night. And in the middle of the dance floor, whilst my awesome playlist of all things 60s (the era my mum and aunt grew up in and love) blasted out some serious tunes, I realised just how amazing my family is. It's hard to describe what I really mean, but I will give it my best shot.
So my Mum's family is a strange but interesting thing. My Mum (Jenny) is the middle child of seven: Carol, Wayland, Bridget, Jenny, Gilly, Lulu and Joey. Now, Carol and Wayland had a different father, and are both a bit older than the others, so didn't live in the house that the others grew up in, so are slightly estranged. Carol's family all live in Ely-area, which is a couple hours drive away: she has three children, I think, some of whom also have kids, I don't know any of them, except Tracey, my cousin, who lives in Hampshire, and I think she has a brother called Darren, and one of them on that side is married to Kevin, who is blind, and if you ever saw the episode of Top Gear when a blind guy drives around the track, that's him. Carol passed away a few years ago, so the only member of that family we ever see now is Tracey, despite her living much further away than everyone else. And I love that she makes the effort - there is something in her that knows how important and amazing family is, and she makes the effort to be there for the important things, and in return she's getting to know the family that her mother was always so accidentally detached from.
Wayland is married to Margie, and they have two daughters, Paula and Jacqui, who each have a daughter. I know Jacqui's daughter is called Tia, but I can't remember Paula's daughter. They all live in Kirby Cane, a village two miles, if that, from our house, but we seldom see them. They tend to be there for the important events, but I think they make the effort for family-related things, and wouldn't class themselves as 'friends' with the rest of the family, or at least, no where near as much as the rest. Its sad, because Wayland's age gap isn't his own fault, but you can definitely feel the difference in relationships with his brother and sisters.
Bridget has three children and an ex-husband, Neil, who is their father, but a bit of a skeeze. Matt, the eldest, just turned 40, has a wife Denise and two kids, Jacob and Eloise, 15 and 12, I think. Then Nicky (36 or 37), who has three kids with two ex-boyfriends, both of whom are pretty terrible parents, but Beth (16) and Noah and Isaac (2, twins) are good kids. Beth is a bit spoilt, but having younger siblings seems to have helped their family a lot. And Becky (34 or 35), the youngest, has a husband James and two BEAUTIFUL daughters, Evie and Maisie, who I think are 6 and 4, but thats a total guess, and I don't know which one is which, but they are both so pretty, and I'm sure as they get older I'll be able to tell them apart.
Mum obviously is married to my dad with four kids - Helen (28) James (26) Charlie (25) and me, 22.
Gilly (male, real name Gilbert) is married to Lisa, the best aunt in the world, and has three boys, Luke (23) Jack (22) and Mike (19). They have the perfect family, in my eyes, because despite constantly not having enough money, they are all so close, and their girlfriends practically live with them, and all their friends are friends, and their parents are the perfect mixture of fun and cool, yet organised, level-headed and good parents. Lisa was telling me yesterday that once Luke goes to university, she doesn't know who she'll go with to see Twin Atlantic and Billy Talent and the UEA. COOLEST AUNT EVER.
Anyway... Lulu, (or Lesley) is married to Crazy-Australian-Uncle Craig. He's a bit wild in his graying hair and his ridiculous mustache, and people constantly, after parties, will ask me "who was the crazy Australian guy?"
Joey, the youngest, has no family, and lives in Beccles, and works in Morrisons petrol station, and I don't know much about her life, really.
Now, Bridget, Mum and Lulu are like the three sisters everyone dreams of having when they think of being sisters. They go on holidays together, they sit and discuss the hilarious things they got up to as kids, and they generally are very close. You can tell that Lulu is younger than them, because she's got her own wild-streak that they don't have - she had a best friend Linda when she was young, instead of a sister, so grew up in a slightly different world to Mum and Bridget, but still they are all amazing when on a dance floor together, wearing stupid hats, singing Daydream Believer.
And last night, on the dance floor, I had to take a moment to appreciate what was around me. Bridget, Mum, Lulu and Joey, Lisa and Denise, Nicky and Becky, Nicky's hilarious friend Donna, Eloise, Evie and Maisie, Tracey, Craig taking pictures, and me in the middle, so glad that I was standing there. Being home can sometimes be oppressive and like a heavy weight, but last night made up for it a bit. My sisters wished they could have been there, and I'm really glad that I was there. Having a family that strong, that happy and smiley and glad to see each other and wishing love and luck to everyone is a really amazing feeling to be part of, and it reminds me of how much I hope that I have kids, quite a few kids, and my siblings all have kids at a similar age, and they can grow up together with this knowledge of this huge family support system that just goes on and on, back and back, this huge spiders-web of family and friends and people you didn't even know you were related to, that whilst growing up you don't even realise is such an amazing thing, but one day you can pause and just smile, surrounded by love, and think 'God I love my family; I wouldn't change them for the world.'