Thursday, August 11, 2011

A SURPRISE VISIT

Mid-afternoon and MOH and I were sitting in the living room dozing on and off when suddenly our little cat leapt from her chair and fled from the room.  This immediately told us that someone was walking up our front path as she is so timid when it comes to strangers and her hearing is so acute.

She was right and there at the front door was my half-brother whom we hadn't seen for some months although I am in contact with him on Facebook almost daily.

He had driven his daughter and her family to Fremantle where they were to board a ship for a cruise so he decided he'd make a slight detour and call in and see how the 'invalid' was doing.  It was a thrill to see him and we spent a pleasant couple of hours chatting and enjoying a cuppa.

He lives in Margaret River which is about 280km south of Perth but he is an accomplished driver and the trip seems not to worry him at all.  He left at about 6pm for the journey back home.  He often drives to Perth and returns on the same day.

He is 14 years younger than I am but we get on very well and one day I will tell the story of how I discovered that he and his sister (my half-sister) existed and how we eventually met.  It was wonderful to find I actually had siblings I'd known nothing about for many years.

I really appreciated his taking the time to call in as we have few visitors and it makes a nice change.

4 comments:

  1. I love a surprise visitor too, Mimsie. It must have your day. x

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  2. How lovely, and I can't wait to hear your story x

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  3. It surprised me to hear you say, with some sense of astonishment, that your brother was so comfortable driving from Perth to Mgt. River and back again in the same day. I live in California and driving long distances is a way of life here. We have to drive 560 km just to see our granddaughter (though we don't do it going and coming in one day)

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  4. Hi there Bev....I suppose in my brother's case I think he does a good job as he is 65 and has had an aortic valve by-pass and heart surgery can sometimes stop people in their tracks. People in Western Australia certainly do drive long distances. One of my granddaughters used to drive from Port Hedland to Perth (1636 kilometres) stopping perhaps twice for a comfort stop. Several days later she would do the return trip. They say the trip takes 19 hours so that is quite a mammoth drive. 1636 equals approximately 1000 miles.

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