Guest post: A Momma’s View – Memories last forever

Posted on by Miriam

I’m delighted to welcome Sandra from A Momma’s View to my blog. I connected with her early in my blogging journey and warmed to her style of writing, her down to earth conversational topics and her many and varied posts.

Sandra writes about different aspects of expat life however she also shares inspirational quotes, heartwarming and often funny stories and she has a wonderfully positive outlook on life.  She features a weekly “Tell me Something Good” and a couple of years ago I shared my own true love story in her ‘couples’ series. There’s plenty to immerse yourself in on her blog.

Settle back and enjoy as she gives us her thoughts of life, love, family, making memories and forging a new life here in Australia.

Coming August, it will be 12 years since we moved from Switzerland to Australia.

12 years seems like a lot. So many years. So many seasons. And yet it seems almost like yesterday since we arrived here.

I remember it all too well. The moment the plane took off in Zurich, the mixed feelings I had when the wheels were off the ground. I remember the tears. They weren’t tears of sadness. They were tears of relief. Of letting go. Everything suddenly felt so much lighter.

clouds1

There is no explanation. I think sometimes things just simply fall into place. Sometimes you just know that it’s meant to be. Sometimes you just know that you will end up where you belong.

When the plane took off in Zurich it was one of those moments. There was my husband, there was my son. All our belongings were either sold or in a container ready to be shipped to a county on the other side of the planet. Out dog, who was basically our fist “child” was with my mother-in-law waiting to eventually be picked up and moved to Australia too.

It’s 12 years since we started our new chapter in a country, so far away from everything and everyone we knew. I’m sitting on a rock somewhere between Steavenson Falls and Keppel Lookout. I’m taking in the view. It was thanks to Miriam and her travel stories on her blog that I discovered this beautiful place, just a couple of hours out of Melbourne.

The view of the little towns below, the hills, the forests. I breath in the fresh and crisp air. I feel the warmth of the sun on my back while I watch the kids. I watch my son eating his sandwich, sitting on a rock as well, taking in the view. I listen to my daughter who is chatting with my husband while eating her food. I have a cheese sandwich in one hand and a granny smith apple in the other.

I’m out here, up on top of a hill way outside of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on the other side of the world. And yet I haven’t felt as close to my dad as I’m feeling right now in this very moment.

walking track

He has never been here. Although travelling so much and having skied in Australia in the sixties, he has never made it to this place. He has seen so much of this world, he travelled to places that now seem so easy to reach, but back then were not only hours but weeks of travelling away from where you lived. He has seen it all, done it all. And he shared his adventures with us children by telling the stories.

I remember the sparkle he had in his eyes when he was visiting us only months after we moved. I was pregnant with our daughter and he was 86. He travelled down under again finally, not making it to the country that has given him the most of his amazing adventures: New Zealand. But he was here us, experiencing Melbourne one more time. After he was here in the sixties. And he told us everything he remembered. He pointed out where he was staying. A hotel close to Flinders Station. And he told us everything about skiing in Thredbo, him and the Swiss National Ski Team back in the days…

I’m up there, far above Marysville.  Eating my cheese sandwich and green apple. The taste of the combination takes me back to the many hikes I did with my dad back in Switzerland. All those days spending outside, experiencing nature and doing things together.

I look at the soft curves of the green hills in the background and it takes me back again to Switzerland and to another little excursion we did as a family. I can’t help but smile and another strong feeling hits me while I breathe in the air and the smell of the autumn leaves combined with the soil and whatever else is in the air. Things like this just hit a spot, you know. They trigger memories and feelings. I can’t help it.landscape.jpg

I look at my kids and wonder if one day they will be taken back to this very moment. I wonder if they will feel the sun on their skin and remember this day. I wonder if they will smell the air one day and remember the conversation and the laughter we shared today. I wonder if one day they will be a bit cold and shiver but then remember us walking through the Australian forest chatting about this and that.

While I sit here wondering about all of this while taking it all in I realize one thing: It doesn’t matter where you are in this world. You create memories. You create them by simply doing. You create them by sharing time and experiences together. This is it. This is what memories are made of, this is how stories are created. This is why you remember places and people. You share an experience.

My dad is no longer with us and yet he was so present in this very moment. I realise that he will always be there, he will always be part of it. And while things change, while you might move and some people might leave in one way or the other, you will always have your memories. Memories that will bring back that warm, cosy feeling, the smile and the feel-good moments.

It’s those moments, those memories that will always stay with you and last forever and will make you feel as if nothing has changed although everything might have …

Connect with Sandra on:

blog: https://amommasview.wordpress.com/2016/11/02/a-transplant/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/187295104774163

Stay tuned next month for anther story, another guest blogger and more travel and inspiration as I aim to bring the world just a little bit closer together.

Keep enjoying the journey.

Have a story to share? Want to connect with me on Facebook.

Come join my new group for like minded travelers
Outanabout YOLO “You only live once”

45 thoughts on “Guest post: A Momma’s View – Memories last forever”

  1. Thank you so much for inspiring me to write this post and for sharing, Miriam. Most of all: Thank you for the wonderful posts you write and the places you share so we can check them out as well…

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

    2. Sandra your writing style is so warm and all encompassing just like Miriam’s … I can see how you were drawn together, thank you both for this really delightful post!
      As a traveller I know all about creating memories, living in the now and opening those new doors 🙂

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

  2. I followed her blog! I love the writing style as well. I can relate to moving somewhere completely new, but this does have a positive outlook like you said, whereas I find myself often looking at the negatives.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  4. Very enjoyable post, and with a tinge of sadness I remember my elderly parents back home in New Zealand. My father is also a walker and even in his early 80’s still climbs uphill and plays golf a few days a week. Thanks, Miriam for the introduction to another informative fun blogger 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  11. Reblogged this on A Momma's View and commented:
    Miriam has inspired me for a couple of outings and my list of places to go to is growing thanks to her sharing all the wonderful adventures she has here in Australia on her blog.

    I was honored to have been asked by Miriam to write a guest blog for her. And it makes me proud to see it on her blog 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. What a lovely post this is ❤️ Thank you so much for sharing this; your life in Australia and your dad and the memories you are making with your children. They may recall them all a bit differently, but they’ll remember and they will forever enrich the fabric of their lives. Thank you for sharing, and I’m glad you still feel your fathers presence. I’m sure he loves this place you call home as much as you do 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  17. What a beautiful post – I definitely had a tear in my eye and yes the spirit of our loved ones continue to surround us in the beauty of our world and those memories we shared…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.