Dear Sophia:
She looked tired but happy. She was celebrating the end of some work training. With her kids, extended family and her work it had been pretty full on. She was happy to be done and so we were doing multiple Uber stops together – some fish n’chips from the local takeaway and then a stop at the supermarket to get some veggies. A good balance I thought.
We started talking and she asked me about my family – so far away. I mentioned how we can sometimes herd our extended family for a time out reunion. How refreshed we all feel after that.
She told me about her family, how there was ‘family land’ in the Bay of Plenty. A small farm, with some relatives tending to it. Nothing fancy she said. The extended family was all over the country and some overseas in Australia and the States. They planted watermelon and when the harvest was near everyone who could come, would come. There was space for everyone. And although it wasn’t a large harvest, there was always enough watermelon.
Her family would eat watermelon and talk for two or three days. Telling stories, mourning those who had gone, meeting the new little ones. The look on her face was dreamy. I was jealous.
She then told me that her family would slowly start to leave – back to their home base.
Bellies full of watermelon grown on their family land.
Nourished.
Love, Lilo
