Seeing your home through others' eyes

Four Summers. I cannot believe that it has been four summers that my family and I have had the privilege of spending in beautiful Aotearoa.

Four summers at Hahei Beach, a quick 2hr drive from our house. Each year we stay longer and longer. This time, we stayed for 9 days. This time we had extended family with us for the first time. My dad and stepmother are here for 6 weeks and it's been interesting to watch them react to everything.

Before we left for Coromandel, they got to see the children's school and attend the end of year prizegiving for Makayla and Kai's primary school.

They were in awe of the beauty of the school with its 180 degree view of the ocean, and remark about their impressions of the values of the school- building humans that will be independent thinkers and resilient helpful members of society- they picked up so many details that Randy and I appreciate about being here. I was actually impressed that all the things we loved was so obvious to them at first glance.

To watch them see how well the kids are thriving- they talk to the kids on video chat, they see videos and pictures, but I don't think anyone fully believes certain things until they see it for themselves.

My father and stepmother were able to experience days of watching the children play and enjoy their childhood with friends at the beach resort, riding their bikes around the camp and to the ice cream shop and back - no electronics involved. They loved all of it. They commended us for providing our children with a level of happiness, safety, security and innocence that wasn't available to us growing up in the US.

New Zealand is a nature lover's paradise and I warned my dad before he came that we are very active especially during the summer. So far we've taken them on walks that they call hikes, and they got to go kayaking for the first time. Although my dad is from Trinidad, he's spent many years in the US, Arizona in particular. I remember when I used to love rainy days because rain came so infrequently. I remember my time in the Caribbean and the midwest during medical school and the east coast during residency. Simply seeing "weather" was always so comforting to me, even if it was bad weather. On the days when rain would fall and I would be a bit bummed about what it meant for my planned beach day, I watched as my father marveled at the rain, the way the sky changes colors and how quickly the clouds moved. I watched as he enjoyed the sounds of the wind through the trees and how he compared so many things to back home in Trinidad. My stepmother often talked about Arizona being "Brown town" and how much she loves how green everything is, and how compared to land locked AZ, it is great to have oceans so close to my home within reach, and unlike most of the US, nature and beaches are free to access whenever we want.

For over three years now I've been sharing with my family how amazing this country is and it's been nice to finally have some of them see it with their own eyes. What is even better is that it seems like they get it. They see and understand My Why.