The people who have contributed to our immigration

This morning as I was standing in the shower I found myself once again mulling over our immigration process (no I don't sing, the family would simply NEVER survive it lol) and although I do believe that 80% of our success so far has been down to attitude there are some VERY important people who have been a part of our journey and without whom I am not sure we would be where we are today.

My parents have to top this list and although I have said it before I simply cannot stress the importance of the fact that they have WILLINGLY let us go and ACTIVELY encourage us to remain on a regular basis......for those parents out there who are faced with their children's eminent departure, I beg you, LET THEM GO and let them go freely and willingly if you want their move to be a success. My parents have never once wished us home (well not verbally at least :-) ) and they have made a HUGE effort to continue to be involved in our lives through skype and over the telephone....my mom buys a world call card on a regular basis and stays in touch almost daily just as she would have if I was in SA. Without the pressure we have been able to settle and find happiness free of the guilt often associated with leaving parents behind.

There have been many friends new and old who have also contributed to our successful relocation, without these people our lives would have been lonely and isolated and although again I believe our attitude towards making friends has been a contributing factor, the new friends have opened their lives to us and the old ones have held us in their hearts and continued to "cheer" for us from the sidelines....and of course my blog buddies are a constant source of unexpected support :-).

Three people I truly believe I would NEVER have made it without are of course Linda, Tanya and Kerry...

LINDA is the person I phone for my much needed dose of home, having been here only 2 months longer then us she is on EXACTLY the same page and we prop each other up when the need arises, we laugh together, vent together and do housework together and she fills the huge gaping hole in my life where the Bratz used to be.

My friendship with TANYA has be revived through my move here and I cannot begin to describe the comfort of knowing that my oldest friend in the world is just a train trip away....Tanya knows EVERYTHING about me and being able to just pick up the phone and chat when I am feeling down, or have something special to share has made all the difficulties of the process seem more manageable.

As for KERRY (and of course Rob), I cannot believe that we have only been friends for a year, I said to Simon the other night I simply can't imagine our lives without them.....Kerry and Rob have embraced us as family and have been there for us through thick and thin, knowing that they are just up the road has made all the difference in our lives and they often bring the much needed laughter and joy into our home.

And so, this has to date been a successful journey, although not without its ups and downs, and it has been due in no small measure to the people in my life at present.....without them would I have been able to maintain the positive attitude and approach that I have or would I have been battling depression and desperate to go home - I don't really know, but I suspect the latter would have been true, and I THANK GOD every single day that he chose the wonderful souls that he did to be a part of my life during this, possibly the most difficult thing I have ever done.