Life Upside Down

Holidays are always a hard time to be away from family, especially when ‘away’ constitutes half the world.

This year, I’m grateful for the strong, pliable family I’ve developed here in Brisbane. A resilient network of humans who have seen me through so much, and who grow ever closer through Taco Tuesdays, camping trips, gigs and Sunday breakfasts. I’m grateful for their love, their camraderie, their openness and constant readiness for new adventures.

I am so very  thankful for the health of those in my blood family. I’m grateful for strength of sinew, blood, mental and physical health. I’m grateful for the bonds that connect us and the fact that we all actually  like each other. This, I’m discovering, is not all that common.

This year, I’m grateful for the chance to, for the first time, spend the holidays in Brisbane. Punctuated by trips to the coast, a music festival, and hopefully some camping, I will be staying in one place over the holiday season for the first time in years. I’m grateful for this, for the sense of place and for the blessing to be able to live in this country.

On that note, I am beyond grateful- in fact more ecstatic than I can put into words, that my Australian permanent residency has been APPROVED! After over 2.5 years, thousands of dollars, what felt like hundreds of forms, countless phone calls and innumerable plans delayed simply due to the lack of not knowing whether or not I would be allowed to stay in the country. More on this another time.

I, you, we have so much to be grateful for. So very much.