Angus and Lil

Here I am...little old me...sitting on an airplane typing a blog on my little laptop. I bet people are thinking, "who is that girl and what important work is she doing on that laptop?" Well, perhaps if I wasn't wearing a stained shirt and a skirt with holes in it that might actually be true...or if I wasn't one of the zillions of people on this plane that are typing on their laptops at this very moment as well. Sigh...maybe someday I will be typing some amazing story about some amazing person doing some amazing things, but for now, I can cover the amazing people bit.
Al and I had a grand old night in New Zealand yesterday. See, it was our very last day in New Zealand and our very last day in our beloved Jucy. Alex's stepfather John, just happens to have a very special relative living in Auckland where we were to end our road tripping so it worked perfectly that we would spend our penultimate day with family. We spent our morning racing around like mad crazy lunatics...like most days, running errands and finishing our last bits and bobs before heading out to South America where all people with American passports have to pay extortionate visa fees to enter the various countries despite that fact that we are all Americans...at least by name of continent! I guess it is to be expected, as Chileans are charged the exact same fees when entering the United States. So, not the best start for South America, but I will try to remain open minded.
Back to our fabulous night! After a morning of posting packages back to London (sorry Sue, John and Julie), purchasing our products that we aren't quite sure we can get in South America and spending a few hot and sweaty hours in the McDonald's parking lot cleaning out the Jucy and packing our rediculously large and cumbersome backpacks for 3 months of lugging those bad boys around...again...after a glorious 3 months of freedom from those chains.
We sat around a bit just enjoying a few fleeting moments we had left with our Jucy girl when we re-read our written receipt and realized we were suppossed to return the Jucy at 10:00am not the 2:00pm time that we thought...a quick phone call to Jucy headquarters and crisis was overted. Once we arrived at the Jucy rental office, we noticed a slim character in shorts and a nicely pressed top pacing back and forth...he looked oddly familiar. As we approached we knew immeidately that it was Angus, John's cousin. They look so similar...I think it's the eyes and the smile, but later we would realize that there are a lot of similar mannerisms there too.
We wrapped up our business at the rental company and said our long lingering goodbye to our lovely girl and off we zoomed to a quiet and exceptionally hilly suburban neighbourhood...honestly, it is one of those neighbourhods Al and I would case to find a parking spot along our travels in Australia and New Zealand. We made our way into Angus and Lil's house and to our sweet room with a real bed, clean sheets and clean towels to use...like a spa, but that wasn't even the best part.
Instantly the wine started 'a' flowing and an endless array of snacks to gorge on literally kept coming out like on a conveyor belt before a dinner of tender beef with vegetables and potatos and pumpkin with a huge hunk of apple pie with New Zealand's creamiest strawberry ice cream on the side...and that wasn't even the best part. At around 3:30pmish, we heard the sound of three kids giggling and laughing while climbing up the stairs to the house and then we were introduced to Natasha age 10, Amber age 9 and Conner age 6. It didn't take long for them to have taken our hands and led us to their rooms and their toys and then outside to their swings and jump ropes and then back again to the computer and the box of ten million Lego pieces.
They were all so easy to get to know and open about what activities they love and what they hate, as well as foods, hobbies, pets, and all about their family. You see, these three kids lost their mother to a random and rare disease and no one really knows what it was or how it happened. A seemingly healthy and fit women about 38 years old whose health just started deteriorating and until she became frail and unable to speak or move...she would literally sit in a wheelchair while watching her chidlren play on the playground...unable to play with them, talk to them, just know them.
These kids are now living between their father's home and their grandparent's home, this being Angus and Lil. Every morning, their father drops them off at Angus and Lil's house and they then feed them breakfast, take them to school and then pick them up after school, feed them dinner, help them with their homework and spend time with them until their father can pick them up around 8pm. About 3 times per week, the kids spend the night at Angus and Lil's house and they take them away on holiday each year.
We only spent one evening and one morning with these kids, but they were such rays of sunshine and just bounding with energy...now I know what all those old people were talking about when I was a kid...about energy. Where does it all go? I cannot imagine how those kids have dealt with such a tragic loss as their mother and Natasha let us into her world a bit and how she is handling such adult feelings at such a young age. She showed us all the pictures around her house of her mother and a locket she has with her mother's picture inside. She told us everything that she can remember about her mother, but I think she gets really stressed out when she cannot recall something. Since her mother's death, she has had these terrible stomach aches and despite bouts in the hospital there is no dicernible diagnosis.
Perhaps she is just panicked at losing her mother and slowly losing certain memories of her. Amber is a bit more closed, but she gets dramatically upset when things go wrong...small things like a computer game or breaking a toy, and she does not like it when her grandad Angus drops her off at gymnastics and then disappears and runs away after him...sometimes into the road...possibly a result of losing her mother and being afraid of losing her grandad too. She has such a lovely smile, but can be a bit of a sullen girl. Conner was only 2 when his mother died and I think that he lives through his sisters' memories and stories to remember her.
Angus and Lil do a great job of reminding the children of their mother with pictures of her all over the home and they talk so openly and regularly about her too. I don't often think about losing my parents, as this is a thought that brings me utter sadness and fear, like most people I would imagine...and I am a 33-year-old adult. These kids have demonstrated so much resiliance and so have Angus and Lil...two retired people who never planned on spending their golden years raising 3 small children, but they have and they do and they don't complain or ask for a thing...they just get on with it.
Once the kids went to sleep, Angus, Lil, Alex and I sat up for hours talking about how they met and stories about how Angus used to hitchhike all around Great Britian sleeping in barns and on beaches and even made his way to visit his cousin John back when he was about 19...and they haven't seen each other since then. After stuffing ourselves silly with food, bubbles and tales of the good ole days, we rolled ourselves to bed and drifted off to sleep...but I swear it was only a few minutes later when those kids were back waking us up to show us their certificate books, skateboards, diary and scooters...and we got to walk them to school and go to each of their classrooms to met their friends and teachers...like show and tell. Very cool.
We wrapped up our morning chatting to Angus and Lil and looking at old pictures of them and their sons, David and Simon after a lovely hilly run from hell...Alex would just say lovely hilly run and before too long it was time to say goodbye...so many goodbyes over the past few days. We took some of Lil's homemade scones with us, took some photos, cuddled and off we went to the airport to begin our final leg of this magnificent trip. But, I cannot help but think about those kids and Angus and Lil and how they all just live their lives and get on with it...inspiring really. I swear it is these types of moments that stick to my ribs and teach me about myself...I love learning things about myself in unexpected places from unexpected people and this trip has been plum full of moments like these.