Nothing in the world fills my heart with love like the birth of a baby and at the same time the birth of a mother and father. I have previously shared with you my indescribable joy to meet my great niece, Imogen Rose, on her birth day and give hugs to the new mother and father. Of course her daddy is my nephew Kane.

The beginning of family life for Kane and Carly, living in London and welcoming the light of their life has given so much joy to our extended families. Here in OZ and also in the UK.

So Imogen was very helpful in participating in the proposal from Kane to Carly.

It was a very happy time when we all heard that Carly and Kane were going to take the next step in their life journey together.  For me, this was only enhanced by the news they decided to marry while visiting Australia for a holiday. What really blew me away was when they asked me to be their Celebrant. 

Can you guess what I said???

Carly and Kane met when they bumped into each other literally at a music festival on new year’s eve a couple of years ago. Their romance involved lots of hanging out together and then being separated. Carly was doing the English girl travel around OZ and Asia thing. Intense time together and missing each other when apart soon defines whether a couple are really committed to each other. The decision for Kane to move to the UK was not a tough one and they have not looked back.

They are both personalities who love to party and enjoy the company of others, so a pool party with family and friends was no surprise for how they wanted to mark their special ceremony.

...danced their way in together

#allyouneedislove

DC

Sisters. So much has been written, analysed, philosophised, fantasised, romanticised, vilified, rationalised, hypothesised and simply talked about in regard to sisters.

Sisters may be biological, foster, adopted, soul, work, professional, chosen, united by a cause or connected by a passion.

Among many, many women in my sisterhood are my two biological sisters. I love the times we get to hang out together, albeit they are not often as we all have busy lives.

Us three Cerasa sisters are close. Over the years we have had many shared experiences, our share of challenges, laughs, tough times and very funny times.  Both sisters have put me up as a “boarder” at different times of my adult life. One thing that I am very sure is that we would always be there for each other if and when we needed.

We can go for weeks without contact, as our lives get on with being busy in daily activity and then we have intense periods of time when we are together. All in all, our situation is not so different to many others.

Soon we are taking off on a short trip together.  We need to take care of some personal family business and it will be a rare opportunity for it just to be the three of us. I am really looking forward to it – as I just know we will laugh a lot!

The reason why I started to reflect on life with my sisters was this video clip.  It made me think about sisterhood in its many guises.

Do you have a sister – biological or other?

DC

When I was chatting with my niece, Daniella, about her wedding our first conversation was about the usual pretty things connected to weddings, as you can imagine.  OK – it is a girl type of thing, so if you are a male reader you just need to accept that bit!  Anyway, we chatted away and naturally I was very excited. My beautiful niece was planning her wedding. (My other beautiful niece had her wedding a few years ago).

A few days later, my excitement was enhanced when she asked me if I would be her Celebrant…well, I am sure you can imagine…elation immeasurable!

How many people have the privilege to be involved in such an enormously special way? I was asked to be the celebrant when Daniella married Dan. WOW!!

I recognised that many features of this wedding would be special when the invitation arrived in the mail. A drawing by Dan on the invitation was a clear indication that their unique style would be evident throughout the day.

One of the many wonderful things about being involved in a commitment ceremony like this is hearing how the couple meet and how their love grows. 

Daniella and Dan first met when Dan was in a Spinal Rehabilitation Unit, and Daniella was working there for a four month nursing graduate year placement. Due to the nature of the rehab environment, they saw each other frequently, which provided the time for them to get to know each other. However, it was a purely professional relationship and they did not have contact after that initial meeting in the “work” environment until two years later. When they reconnected, a lovely friendship blossomed into a romance that led to them deciding to marry each other and be each other’s life partner.

“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. 
Happiness never decreases by being shared” …Buddha

DC

Professionally my career has taken many turns and directions. Many unplanned and unexpected chapters, with so many extraordinary results and opportunities.

In my clinical life, midwifery allowed me to achieve amazing experiences with beautiful people. Being invited and welcomed into an intimacy circle where people share innermost feelings, often secrets and sometimes fears cannot be dismissed or disrespected. It was and is such a privilege.

I have discovered a new passion, which again, invites me into such circles of intimacy.

For many years I have talked about how I would love to be a Celebrant. Imagine being able to work with people to help them create a wonderful life celebration event. Whether it is a marriage, funeral or naming ceremony or any other type of event that has significance, people want to make their special events memorable. I am not sure why it appealed to me, it just did.  

One day someone said to me, “When are you going to become a Celebrant? You have talked about it long enough!” They were right; I have talked about it long enough, so I set about doing the program.  

So another ‘hobby’ has been added to my list of passions.  

I look forward to sharing stories with you.

DC

Public holidays always seem to have an air of something special about them. Different to weekends or rostered days off from work, public holidays seem to demand that plans are made for them.

Extra special plans to ensure that make the public holiday have you feeling like you have had some benefit from them and they have been a real treat.

Our public holiday this week was going to be a day at home for me doing all sorts of things that I have wanted to catch up on for weeks. Of course my plans were about 36 hours of activity to fit into nine hours…but then again, plans are made to be changed - apparently!!

After having to log on and do a few hours of unexpected work, I was all set to commence some other things when in walked Tez with about 20kgs of produce.  

Feeling very proud of himself for cleaning up the remains of the summer crop from the veggie garden he happily advised me “you should be able to make some good preserves with this lot”!

“Not in my plan for my public holiday”, was what I thought.

However, I could not see all the wonderful veggies go to waste, so it was out with the pans and some old recipes.

Jars a plenty of relish

Recently I saw a joke that went along the lines of “The moral of the Cinderella story is that if you wear great shoes it can change your life. The end.”

I also saw another jibe that asked “If Cinderella’s shoe was a perfect fit, why did it fall off while running down the stairs?”

Personally, I am no stranger to jibes and jokes about shoes. Yes, I admit, I have “a serious thing” about shoes. I think it is a genetic thing. My grandfather was a boot/shoemaker and repairer his entire life. He had stalls at markets selling shoes. My uncle took over the business and from the age of eight my first after school paid job was working in the various shoe stalls/shops. I love shoes.  My feet often hurt and I think feet are a strange part of the human anatomy, but I do love shoes. OK – I have said it…I have confessed to my weakness.

However, there is a serious side to this love. I also think when children first commence walking, a good pair of shoes, fitted well, are important. I recall buying first pairs’ of shoes for numerous children over the years. This has developed into another “thing”. 

For some of those children, now as wonderful young adults, I have offered to buy them their wedding day shoes. After all, walking over a cloud to commit to the love of your life, one should be carried along on great footwear!! It is a small something I can offer…