from w
Each Christmas we used to send out scores of cards and letters but hey, it's hard work, finding addresses, etc. It's cut down a lot now and I will post on facebook and here the letter which is a bit obsessive about us, but it does give a summary of the past year for those who like to catch up with the Ratawa gang in Geelong.
---------------
There were ten
of us in the household earlier in the year – George’s family and Andrew’s
family, though Andrew Snr, Eka, and Linlay now are in Nukualofa, Tonga
for a year, with Eka working as a pathologist. The teenagers Andrew and Jordan are
at Geelong High School, Epa working full-time, Bale studying Aged Care
Certificate and has worked part of the year at Lorne, George on his computer
most times. Peceli and I write up a
couple of blogs – Geelong Visual Diary –
http:geelong-visual-diary.blogspot.com
and the Babasiga blog, - http:babasiga.blogspot.com, with drawings and
photos. I am still obsessed with Fiji news which under the dictatorship is
still hardly the outcome we desire.
Jordan who finished
Year Ten had his first knee surgery at the Royal Children’s Hospital a couple
of months ago. The medical care is
brilliant there and it’s such a wonderful hospital. The second operation will
be in a few months time – all after an accident in Fiji three years ago.
Peceli is
keeping very well and is gardening enthusiastically rather than playing golf.
I’ve got a crook knee so that’s stopped me in my tracks! Peceli and I help most weeks at Rotary Donation
in Kind sorting books to send in containers to the Pacific and South East Asia.
Our family are
members of the East Geelong Uniting Church where I help with piano/organ and on
Sunday afternoons some of us go up to Altona Meadows/ Laverton to the Fijian
service . There are numerous Fijian functions we are involved with such as the
Fiji Geelong Friendship Club with kava drinking, yarning and hospitality.
A highlight for me
personally was three days at the Emmaus Walk which was a really quality retreat
with beautiful people at a camp in the Myrniong area. Also, arly in the year over three months
Peceli and I spent several weekends at Colac helping the Uniting Church people there
with pastoral care and services. They are such lovely country people and it was
a pleasure to spend time with them.
This year there
were many bereavements with younger friends passing on. as well as our dear Aunt
Mary Collins in Bacchus Marsh who was 99. At the funeral the Lay and Collins families
met up so that was very good. Also, George
took the boys to Fiji for the funeral of Robin’s wife Sala’s mother in Navuso.
Our house is full of computers, laptops, note-books, ipads, smart phones, so we are all hooked up and in our private worlds. I have
100 classical pieces of music on a tiny gadget! This is so different to the time when we were
young with only the radio. Then we did talk to one another around a table!
Advent and
Christmas are special times and we enjoy the fellowship of the different
churches we attend and the rich messages of the birth of Jesus Christ. The road to Christmas though is full of bumps
and distractions and parties that are evidence of our cbsession with
consumption. We are currently preparing for a Carols program, a church dinner,
and special events.
So that’s the
round-up for the Ratawa family in Geelong for the year 2012. We are looking
forward to news from friends and family from far and wide, though during the
year Facebook has enabled us to keep in touch with many.
With
love from Wendy and Peceli Ratawa
