It wasn’t hard to find things to laugh about, even though our lives are lived about as far away from each other as we could possibly live them. We shared the same Grandma, but I just happened to be born over the other side of the world and they were in Holland. I don’t know if you know what I mean when I say I felt at ‘home’ with this distant family I had only ever met once before, but this is exactly how I felt. My Uncle was a sweet echo of my own Dad, my Aunty warm and inviting and my cousins were great fun.
Renske and Jim are my cousins, and along with their ‘significant others’ Jeff and Joyce, we headed out to have some fun together!
The weather had been horrid that day, Spring in Holland can be beautiful indeed (a hint of tulips in the next blog post will prove this!) but the time we spent in Holland the weather decided it didn’t really want to play along. We found a window of niceness early in the evening and we all dashed out. Within a few minutes the sky started closing in. Here you’ll notice Thor, the cat, warning us to get inside. (Perhaps he was just playing too, but I think it’s more fun to imagine he was warning us)
I looked up only to see the clouds closing in on us, and with only moments to spare I called out to Renske and Jeff to quickly get in front of the door so we could get a shot with them there too.
The wind hit, then rain and then hail. Like, all within about 15 seconds. BAM. It was time to run back inside.
So we chatted and laughed and ate some more and waited for the weather to fine up again. During this little interlude, I’d like to properly introduce you to Thor.
Then the wind and the rain and the hail passed, and the sun came out again. Dried off and changed the troops came back outside to play.
Jeff and Renske have a beautiful relationship. She calls him ‘friend’ and he cooks her amazing food.
Jim and Joyce are full of life and laughs, and Joyce’s smile can light up any room!
So there you have it, another little piece of my family puzzle pieced together. I loved being in Holland and getting to know my Dutch family. I loved seeing myself in the culture and the people, somehow it felt like home and I could tell that this was where my roots truly lie. And you can bet I’ll be coming back sometime! (And next time, Aunty, we’ll try and do the photos when you’re not soaking up the sun in Spain!)