Standing on the shoulders of giants…
“If I had seen further, it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Sir Isaac Newton
We stand on the shoulders of giants. We would not be where we are today, if it was not for the these giants. ( and even though my brothers are giants, I’m being metaphorical). :)
We have the most amazing support structure. We have my mom, dad (even though he’s grumpy), brothers, their fiancée, girlfriend and their families who we count as our own. They walk this path of life with us and allow us to be who we are. They enable us to be who we are.
They help, guide, nurture, encourage, love and walk with us. They fetch and carry, shop and cook, break and fix… Anything and just about everything. There is practically nothing that they wouldn’t do for us and we for them. We see them often. Some weeks we will see them 5days out of 7. Our sprogs miss them if more than 3 days go by without seeing them. We chat about random things and we laugh at each other often. They support us (ok B, but I say us) at his sporting endeavors and we them.
Sure, we don’t always get along. But we work through our issues and emerge stronger on the other side. Iron sharpens iron. Without the testing, we wouldn’t grow and know what we are all capable of. We also wouldn’t know just how strong our relationships truly are.
With every family dinner ( twice a week), party, random visit, I realize how important these bonds are. The sprogs learn things from them that we couldn’t teach them. I love to watch these bonds blossom. Jessie and Brent have a very elaborate goodbye handshake, that makes me giggle every time they do it. Jack is able to box, kick and rough tumble with his uncles, giving B a break from his hard punches 
Kyla is learning that her uncles can help her to reach the roof and throw her really high into the sky. They know that with granny, they will get just about everything that they ask for. She is always there to spoil them, read endless stories, play animals/whatever game is the flavour of the moment.
We are as strong as the shoulders we stand on, and ours incredibky strong!
Oh How I envy you and your family. I wish I lived closer to mine! I miss my Dad popping in during work hours to have a cup of tea or play with my boys. I miss being able to pop in by my Mom at work. I don’t have that support structure where we are now. And it’s slowly killing me.
Aw Hun, I’m sorry that it’s rough for you! Any chance of you guys moving closer to them?
We couldn’t do without ours. It’s a HUGE blessing.