Friday, 28 July 2023

Jo-Anne's Thoughts

 Good morning all this cold Friday morning, I have been thinking a bit about saying “love you” or “I love you” each time you hang up a phone call from a close family member or friend.

I ring my grandchild Sam each morning Monday to Friday in order to make said child is awake and out of bed early enough to have a shower and get ready for school. Sam's mother maybe there but will be sleeping, any not what this is about. At the end of each call we both say “love you” before hanging up. The same goes for all my daughters, grandchildren, husband and siblings and of course to Mum & Dad when they were alive.

Whenever I see one of my siblings I will give them a hug and a kiss on the cheek, like I do when I see one of my daughters or grandchildren.

In my family this is normal, however, I know that it isn't the case in many families. When I first met Tim he found it strange that we were such a huggy kissy family as his family never did such a thing. He could never imagine hugging or kissing his family members.

It wasn't something done in my dad's family before he met mum it never occurred to him to say or do such a thing. Dad said mum showed him what a loving family could be.

When my brother who is now in his 40's was in his late teens early twenties he surprised our dad by giving him a hug and kiss on the cheek before leaving to go out at night with his mates as his mate was right there watching. Dave didn't care it was what we do.

Tim never leaves the house without giving me a kiss and telling me he loves me. Also like me he finishes a phone call with love you, see you soon. All my girls end calls to their children the same way.

12 comments:

  1. I grew up where it was never said and there was no affection shown. Of course the Swedish joke is: Ole loved his wife so much he almost told her! So I changed things as an adult--in my 30s as I recall. Gave my mom and dad a hug goodbye one time and they were just shocked. But they liked it...so I kept doing it and eventually my brother sister joined in...us siblings often hug each other goodbye, too. Now with McFamily--we always say love you when we say goodbye (phone or in person--and even in texts quite often) and we always hug goodbye, too! I love it! With the grandsons there's always a hug and an I love you--bye bye. I am so glad I got brave enough to hug my folks back then. (Hey, I'd rarely ever seen them even touch each other and only a peck on the cheek a couple times--so quite a bold thing to do hugs, I tell you.)

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    1. I am glad your parents liked it when you hugged them and your family grew to become the norm

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  2. I came from a VERY KISSY family, whether the people were parents and grandparents, spouses, children and grandchildren, cousins, aunts and uncles. But since Feb 2020, when Covid lockdowns meant NO contact whatsoever, things have changed. I haven't seen a kiss anywhere for 3.5 years... and I am not sure whether we will ever return to the old way of greeting loved people.

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    1. My family hasn't let Covid stop us hugging and kissing each other just never if someone is sick but that started for us before Covid due to my dad's bad health, he passed in 2019 before Covid

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  3. I've always been demonstrative with my children and grandchildren. My own parents were pretty reserved, though.
    Blessings, Jo-Anne, and keep telling others that you love them!

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    1. Yeah I hardly every hugged or kissed my dad's side of the family but mum's side was so different

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  4. That all sounds so beautiful. What a blessing it is for you.

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  5. My family is very much like that.. My husband's family tends to be cold. It's hard to get used to.

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    1. For those of us who are used to hugging and kissing it can be odd to see other families so distant and cold

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  6. We are similar to you, every family is different.

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Just photos of my house decorations

 I am kicking off the week with some photos of the decorations around my house, I don't do much but I do more the others in the family.