When we were young...

Well, my three-week family getaway already feels like it happened in another lifetime. Oh how I miss you all who're over there, oceans away!

Whenever I'm back "home", one of my favourite things to do is to go through all our family albums. Doesn't matter how many times I've seen them, it's a ritual I treasure: perusing those black and white pictures of my parents' dates, their wedding, our family trips...or the precious pictures of my brother and me - me always playing tricks on him, with our many cousins now scattered in every continent. I wish I could remember ALL those wonderful moments...

We had a happy childhood, we were happy kids, still are...We always had cheeky grins and were up to some mischief. But there was something simpler back in the day...we were content with playing marbles, "titine" (tiny cloth bags packed with rice) or in my case, playing soccer with the guys and being deliberately smashed all over. Yes, I was always the goalie. Until I proved I could dribble and shoot penalties. Ha!

There's something special about growing up alongside your cousins. You get to have more siblings than you truly do. And the bonds that you create in your childhood, neither the years nor the distance can break.

It's a pity all our kids (one day for some maybe hehe) won't grow up together like we do...but they'll hopefully listen to our stories and learn something from it, something like...family matters. A lot.