Invitation

I have received a wedding invitation for the 6th of April in Brisbane, Australia. I must go, what an exciting mail delivery that was today. I have never met the bride or groom but they are related to me via my adoptive father's family and I only found out they existed about 18 months ago. This is very important for me, a new and hopefully enduring family connection.

I started reading this book last night on my Kindle and am so engrossed in it I have spent precious time today turning the pages when I should be doing other things. Last week I went to the film Philomena which I found very upsetting and quite disturbing. The story aside, the cruelty of the nuns and the hierarchy of the catholic church which ensured that 'sin' would ensure the two never met, I felt a deeply personal connection to the story. Few understand the loss, rejection and sense of never belonging anywhere that adoption brings to an individual. The losses I have experienced since made the movie very personal. Previously buried feelings and my sense of aloneness and identity loss have once again risen to a surface filled with the potholes of my life journey. I applaud both Philomena and the Michael Sixsmith for bringing this terrible trade in children to the notice of the world.

A website I have previously mentioned listed an author, Orhan Pamuk, who I had not heard of. I reserved his travel memoir, Istanbul, and although the print is quite small I hope to gain some insight into the city he has lived in for over 50 years. Istanbul is a city I hope to visit one day so a personal insight into this mysterious city may bring planning and lead to other books and reading on the same topic. 

     
Coffee yesterday with a Czech friend emboldened me. I love Marushka's company. She too found Christmas difficult and depressing this year as she keeps attempting to enrich her life. Reading, travel and contact with friends from Eastern Europe and Germany keep her sane, but she admitted to homesickness for the Czechoslovakia of her childhood. Ageing brings us full circle and a life lost in a country far from her home is causing her much sadness. I truly understand her depression and admire her strength in staying here with a sad and ageing husband who does not enjoy life as she does.