Just before the new year something really cool happened...
but first I need to back track a bit back to late 2003...or so when I was at uni.
I had been living with some old family friends in Brisbane while I studied social work at the University of QLD, I'd just broken up with my boyfriend of about 5 months...not the longest relationship known to man kind, but I had fallen hard and was really struggling to make sense of life and feel happy in myself and I guess had fallen into a bit of a dark time.
While I was working through this time, feeling pretty lonely and average, I was invited to a small group that was just starting out with a bunch of people I had a sort of met at church. Most of us were newish to Brisbane and most of us had migrated from different areas around Australia and were making that church our home. The first time I remember meeting all together with the group was at Brad and Di's place, we broke off and got to know each other a bit, over the coming months and years we hung out regularly and those people became a really important part of my spiritual, mental and social development, moving from a teenager to a young adult. I was the "baby" of the group and really felt looked after. I felt like I had a few older sisters and brothers looking out for me...without the sibling rivalry and bickering! Many of them travelled to Bundy to come to my 21st and it was a real hoot. (And if I'm ever speaking about these people with my parents, I often refer to what they were dressed as at my 21st!)
SO...in 2006 I moved from Brisbane back to Adelaide, and over the next few years most of the group left that church. A couple moved to Darwin (they have since moved to NSW), one guy moved to Albury (as a single guy, he's now married with a little boy and one on the way), Kylie moved back to Melbourne, Fiona moved back to Adelaide...in about 2009, one couple moved to far north QLD, another one of girls went to Mackay, one guy went to Canada for a holiday...met his wife there and has been there ever since... and a few of the group stayed in the Wolloongabba area.
Over the last 7 years I have had the pleasure of seeing these wonderful friends on pilgrimages back to Brisbane. OR lucky for me some of the extended families (mums and dads, sisters) live in Adelaide, so often over Christmas they would be here seeing them and then we'd get to say a special hello.
This year it turned out 7 (plus two husbands who have joined since the time in Brisbane!) of us were going to be in Adelaide over the Christmas/New Year time and we caught up for a picnic in the park (along with some other friends of one couple who were visiting) but then we went out for tea the same night. It was so special.Since the "Gabba" days 2 couples have 3 little cuties between them. We are all in slightly different life stages now but we had such a wonderful time catching up. They're the sorts of friends that you just take off from where you left off, inquiring what we have been doing in the last months, how the bambinos are going? How is work, what project are you working on, how's your solar panels!?, where will you be travelling to next?
I think they are going to be the types of friends I will have for the rest of my life. I hope they are. They have been such a big part of supporting me (back in a dark time...and most of them would not realise the impact they had on my life)
But it was a nourishing time to be with them again, to be catch up with them and to be in each others company. I'm looking forward to when I see them next...whenever that may be!
(unfortunately for some reason I am unable to upload new photos..mum and dad's computer isn't cooperating...so for now only a couple of older ones)