The Engineer also Muses

I think it’d be nice to introduce you to my family, because I mention them all the time. So, here they are, with a few photos.

My Immediate Family
I have my mother, father, and brother. All seen below:

Mum and Dad

Brother, in a shot befitting him

My fur family
We have a cat, Kapciu, and a dog, Matt. They do not get along. Kapciu was what Dad bought Mum when she suggested having a third child. A wise move on his behalf, if you ask me, both Mum and I love cats!.

Kapciu, the cat

Matt, the dog

My Boyfriend
Don’t get too excited, I lifted this photo from his blog, but he’s definitely worth than more a passing mention. He’s cute, witty, charming, intelligent, an Arts student, committed, devoted, very cuddly, and a million other thing. I can see myself spending a long time to come with him.

Dan, my boyfriend

Here endeth the photo show, now for some other tit-bits:
Mum’s Family
Mum has her parents, Poppie (95), and Grandma (85), and a sister, Ro. Ro lives in Melbourne with her de facto partner of about 10 years, Dennis. Dennis is divorced, and has a son, Blair. His daughter, Cody, was tragically killed in a car accident at the end of 2006.

Mum has a half-brother, Darryl (from Poppie’s first marriage). He’s married to Vicky, and they have two sons, Damo and Andy. Damo is a cop in Goulburn, and is married to another cop, (who is also an Andy), and they have two kids (I think, I’ve not seen them in ages). Andy (my half-cousin, not Damo’s wife) was thought to be gay for some time, but is currently engaged, as far as I know.

Mum also has an Aunt Barb, who lives in Blackheath in Grandma’s childhood home, which is actually owned by Ro (I can’t really explain it much better than that). Aunt Barb, though, lives up to her name, and is prickly and hard to get along with. She often refuses to speak to Grandma for years at a time because of something little, and then sends a gushing Christmas Card the next, full of “much love” and “best regards”. I’ve not seen her in several years, given that she generally thinks we’d only go up to spy on her for Grandma.

To the really extended family, Mum has a cousin, Robyn, who lives in New York state, whom I’ve met once or twice. Finally, Mum has many other cousins around the country, but I haven’t met any of them. The last she mentioned them was when my cousin, John, suicided in 2003. I hadn’t met him, but the fact that we were the same age, shared a name, and were related, touched me somewhat.

Dad’s Family
Dad has his parents, Dziadek (84) and Babcia (80), and a sister, Zosh. Zosh is married to Rog, and they have two children, Al and Mike. Al is married to Jo, and they have two little girls, Em and Olive. Mike is married to Vic, and they currently live with Vic’s parents.

Then there’s the Armidale collective. Babcia’s brother married a German lady, Frieda, and they have two sons, Andy and Sean. I don’t really see them much, Andy’s wife, Nan, and Andy have three children, a daughter, Al, and twin boys. They don’t get spoken about much because, *shock, horror*, they were conceived via IVF. This is not to mention that Frieda had a child from a previous relationship out of wedlock, Eadie. Frieda died quite suddenly earlier this year when she received word that Eadie had been taken to hospital in a coma… the shock was too much for Frieda who had a heart attack almost immediately. Eadie died a few weeks after.

Dad also has extensive family we visit in Poland. His aunts, Genja, Henja, Sabina, and Wiechka, and their children, are all his mother’s cousins; and Halina is his father’s cousin. Henja and Sabina passed away last year. My favourite Uncle, Mietek (Henja’s daughter’s husband), died in 2002, from a heart attack, and going to Poland since then has never been the same.

Dan’s Family
I’ve slowly been getting to know more of Dan’s family over the past few months, and have come to think to his sister, Kate, as almost like a sister-in-law. Dan’s cousin, Lala and her partner Cal, are both wonderful people and like cousins to me, and I now know Bee, Ade, Bin, and partners Mary and Alex. Dan also has a “real” sister, and his two parents, and for the rest, you can read his blog.

When friends become like family
I have had many friends over time, and many of my close friends feel like family sometimes. Steph, Flick, Kate V, Blake, Billy, Thom, and Pallavi you have always been there for me, supported me, and we’ve had so many great times together, not to mention many late-night discussions and D&Ms. Sometimes I feel closer to you than I do to members of my actual family. To all my other close friends, I love you all so much.