The Book of Me, Written by You - Week 62 - Is Blood Thicker Than Water?

The Book Of Me, Written By You is a 15 month project set up by Julie Goucher at Anglers Rest.

Each week there are prompts which require answering.

Week 62 - Is Blood Thicker Than Water?

NHS Give Blood Campaign

Blood Doesn't Grow On Trees

Who is our "family"?

Does our "blood family" come first?

Who are our "good friends"?

To me family is anyone who is a good friend, as well as blood family who I have done "life" with. Family is an important concept to me. I have not always fully seen eye to eye with all my blood relations but I have remained in contact with them all and enjoy seeing them semi-regularly. I would always make the space to see my blood relatives too, despite our differences there is something strong in a blood-link relationship, which I cannot quite explain and my relatives are important to me. 

Some members of my family

As I have researched my family tree and visited graves or ancestral homes I would regularly get a deja-vu feeling, as if something was drawing me there - is this part of the blood link, the memories of the generations gone by whom I share part of my DNA with?

I also have a great church family around me in the community in which I live, these are people who I see on a regular basis throughout my week and share my every day "life" with - the up's and the down's. 

I have great friends who I have spent parts of my "life" with in the past, who I can pick up totally where we last left off and enjoy spending time together. These friends are also part of my family. For example, a good school friend who I have kept in contact regularly with, my gap year team mates who I lived with for a year, my university friends who we lived in one another's houses together, etc.

A good friend who I would class as family is a friend who I have shared "life" with to a deeper level, than an acquaintance. They are people I trust, love and cherish with my high's and my low's and who share their lives with me too.

The Book of Me, Written by You - Week 60 - Family Traits

The Book Of Me, Written By You is a 15 month project set up by Julie Goucher at Anglers Rest.

Each week there are prompts which require answering.

Week 60 - Family Traits

There are many family traits which I exhibit and probably many that I am unaware of:

Chocolate cupcake

• my love of food and cooking was passed from my grandmothers and my own mother - we are all great cooks and have enjoyed cooking and feeding the family, hence why I write a regular FOODY FRIDAY blog post on my other blog These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things.
• I am told that I have the Davidson nose and wire hair so these must be a genetic traits passed down the Davidson family line.
• my love of family history was inspired by grandmother who loved reflecting about all her extended family members, is this a family trait to have a love of family and social history relating to the family?
• again I am told that I have characteristics of both my parents in me.
• my love of Yorkshire must be a family trait as most of my family down the lines were from Yorkshire although I was actually born and brought up in Lancashire. I moved back to Yorkshire when I came to university and have lived here ever since.
• I look just like my mum did at my age, it's like looking at me when I see photos of her of this age.

The Book of Me, Written by You - Week 35 - Aunts & Uncles

The Book Of Me, Written By You is a 15 month project set up by Julie Goucher at Anglers Rest.

Each week there are prompts which require answering.

Week 35 - Aunts & Uncles

Let's start with my blood relatives, I have 3 blood related uncles:

• Uncle Grahame, he is my dad's elder brother and has been married to my Auntie Hilary since long before I was born.
• Uncle Andrew D, he is my dad's younger brother.
• Uncle Andrew S, he is my mum's younger brother who married later in life, so I have never really called her Auntie Sue, but she is an aunt as she is married to my uncle.

Growing up my aunts and uncles lived quite far away, so we perhaps only saw them once a year, if we were lucky. I do remember spending time with my dad's family (aunts, uncles, cousins etc) often at New Year, all crowded around my grandparents roaring open fire, playing cards or dominoes with my grandfather, uncles, parents and cousins.

I had a huge number of great aunts and uncles, but did not know them all well. The ones I remember spending time with on a regular basis were:

• Auntie Kathleen and Uncle Arthur - Auntie Kath would never forget anyones birthday and loves writing letters to us all even now. She loves to know what we're all doing with our lives.
• Auntie Aileen - was a spinster, who died when I was only 7 years old. My dad spent a lot of time with her growing up and so has many fond memories of her, which he has shared. I remember visiting Auntie Aileen in hospital on Sunday afternoons when I was young, she gave me a small holdall bag keyring, which I have always treasured.
• Auntie Dulcie - who was also a spinster, lived not far from my grandparents so would come and see us if we were visiting. I remember as a young child visiting her house and she gave me an owl soft toy, which I still also treasure.
• Auntie Brenda and Uncle Brian also lived not far from my grandparents so we saw them semi-regularly at family gatherings. I was also a bridesmaid for their daughter when she married. More recently she has been a great help in providing information to help with my family history research.
• Auntie Kath and Uncle Jim - we did not see often but received regular birthday and Christmas wishes from them, again more recently Auntie Kath has been able to help in providing me with some family history stories and information.

As we did not live locally to our extended family, we saw more of good friends of my parents. As far as I can remember there is only one couple who I called Auntie and Uncle - Auntie Penny and Uncle Brian - they are great friends to my parents and as a child we also spent a lot of time with them when my parents were working. Even though I now live further away I can always pop into their house and feel at home when I am passing by.

I have really fond memories of all my aunts and uncles, whether close or distant blood related or not and I will always cherish those memories I have of them in my heart.