Love Actually

Have you seen the opening and closing scenes in Love Actually?  The scenes in the airport arrival hall as family and friends welcome their arriving loved ones?  This is what our family calls our airport reunions.  With three daughters living in London and New York and all our various visits, we have many Love Actually moments, and arriving at 6am at Heathrow on 24 March was one Love Actually that we´d been looking forward to for too long.

Our beautiful, brunette daughter L ran the length of the arrivals hall to jump into her papa´s arms.  The three of us couldn´t let go of each other as we stumbled out to the waiting car to take us to Homestead Rd, where we were lucky to be early enough to also be greeted by her beloved PJ, we all walked to Le Pain de Quotidien for a breakfast coffee before PJ had to leave for work.

Love Actually happened a second time that morning - not at the arrivals hall - but at Parson´s Green where we met beautiful youngest daughter E who had travelled in from Surrey, where she is living during her gap year.  Both L and E had arranged to have the day off work, so we spent the day wandering along the Thames and through the beautiful spring parks around Fulham, then Richmond, catching up on our lives - all the things that are so much more fulfulling in person - slipping into cafes, and then back out into the unseasonably warm, sunny London day.  L said we must have brought the warm Australian sunshine with us.

Two shiney girls in one day!  We were a happy group as we ate at the delightful Harwood Arms that night.  Berkshire´s best deer and pidgeon roast to celebrate!  Still excited as we anticipated one more London arrival to come.

The Oxford/Cambridge boat race occupied us the next day, as we awaited the arrival of beautiful middle daughter S from New York.  We provided the late night welcoming party on the platform of Parson´s Green station to greet her train from Heathrow.  The third Love Actually in three days!  And three shiney, shiney girls.

Finally, after two years we were all together again. Love Actually.

Bishop´s Park sunshine, and it´s only 9am.