Blackwater, the first town we called home in sunny QLD ...........
I was SO jealous. I have longed to go back and pay a visit to where we once lived, to show our boys around, to see if they remember anything about the time they spent there.
Blackwater is a small mining town 200km inland from Rockhampton. We moved there in 1995 with two of our sons then aged 2 and 2 weeks old, and went on to spend a fabulous 6 years of fun, love and laughter in this tiny town.
When we moved, it was at the height of one of the many mining booms in Australia. We packed up our house in NSW and headed north. We were filled with much anticipation of what was ahead of us. We were taking a giant leap out into the big wide world, a giant leap somewhere out into the unknown.
Leaving our entire family and circle of friends behind was hard and a major gamble. Not knowing if we would be able to cope on our own in a town where we knew not a single soul was worrying, but at the same time exhilarating.
This was our adventure, the beginning of a new life, our time to see if we could shine on our own.
We were welcomed with open arms from people who had never before met us. The company that my husband was now working for, greeted us with such warmth that we immediately fell in love with this tiny town and its community spirit and it very quickly became our home.
We have so many wonderful memories of living in Blackwater. First days at school, the birth of our third and fourth sons, birthday parties, sporting events, wonderful friends and so much more that I could go on forever and a day.
I miss those days, life was easy, life was simple. I often wish that it were possible to turn back the clock if only for a day just to relive that time in our lives.
I'm feeling nostalgic today, thinking of times gone by and the decisions that were made to lead us to where we are today. While hubby was in our old home town, he took the time to drive passed the houses that we turned lovingly into our homes and sent me some photos. It was enough to bring tears to my eyes as I remembered watching our boys play in the yard and learning to ride their bikes on the driveway, simple pleasures that hit so hard on my emotions that the memories even continued throughout my dreams last night.
It was a period in our lives that will always be in my heart, a time that will always be at the forefront of my mind, memories that I clutch onto for dear life. It was a happy time, a time when we really grew as a family and discovered that as long as we have each other the impossible is able to be achieved.
Today I feel the need
to look back
on the path that has
led me to where we are today
as a family
Linking up for this weeks FYBF with the fabulous Grace
Happy Friday everyone
xx
You were very brave, I look at where we our now and wonder why it has to be our forever, my hubby won't consider moving, but I often yearn to bring our kids up semi-rural... Love a trip down memory lane :) xx
ReplyDeleteI think it's great to look back and see how far (in some instances and not so far in others) we have come. I know that for us, moving countries was the BEST thing we ever did - and the best future we could have given ourselves and K. I very much doubt we would have anything like the lifestyle we have here had we not moved.
ReplyDeleteWhile there are things that annoy me - I know that there would be more things that annoyed me had we not moved.
A has said that the only thing he would have changed was that we moved sooner whereas I feel that, if we had moved sooner, I doubt we would have been as happy because I wasn't ready to make that move. Moving when we did meant I was ready which meant I was happy to work at it to make it work.
I look forward to our next move - onto acerage. While I know that it isn't in the foreseeable future just yet (given A is only home 1 week a month and I don't have the heart to ask him to do things around the house when he is here), I know that it will happen and we will have a lovely verandah that we can sit on and look across paddocks and trees and enjoy the quiet !!
Have the best weekend - lotsa love !
Me
Sorry for the long comment !!!
ReplyDeleteMe
Oh that is such a huge and brave move you made, no wonder you feel a little sentimental - you deserve to feel that way. I am in such awe of people that make the big ,move like you did. xx
ReplyDeleteHello! My name is Heather and I was hoping you could answer a quick question I have about your blog :-) My email address is Lifesabanquet1@gmail.com
ReplyDelete