'Nigella Christmas' - an unexpected & surprising gift sent to me by my little sister, all the way from the UK !
I was so surprised to open the book & to find that it had been personally signed for me by Nigella herself !“I posted something to you on 5th December as a surprise, but I gather you haven’t got it yet” said my sister as I spoke to her all the way in Chester, UK on a crackly phone line from Nairobi, Kenya two week's ago (I’d ‘phoned her to tell her that we’d just found out we were expecting a baby girl !) “I don’t really want to spoil the surprise by telling you what it is though” she said. “Oh don’t worry” I replied “You know there’s never any hurry in Africa and the parcel should eventually turn up – in fact, I’m still waiting for several Christmas cards”.
Of course my sister, being an African herself, and having lived here for over 30 years before emigrating to the UK with her husband and 2 children a little over a year ago, knows only too well how slow and unreliable things can be in Africa. But still, she sounded exasperated and after chatting a little bit more (about our kids – what else ?!), we said goodbye & hung up.
I miss my sister, although we haven’t lived in the same country for years now. When I was working in South Africa many years ago, she was traveling & working her way around the world. (She also has a hotel background/qualifications and has worked in hotels in South Africa, the UK and Israel.) She was away for a long time but eventually returned & settled in South Africa, just as my husband and I left to start a new life for ourselves in Tanzania. Over the years she visited us here and we also saw a lot of her and her family on at least twice yearly trips to South Africa. Now they are living in the UK (we’ve visited them there once since their move) and because she’s living on a different Continent, it feels extra far away.
Families are funny things, and I’ll admit that my sister and I have our fair share of arguments and disagreements & live completely different lifestyles, but at the end of the day I really love her, not only because she’s my only sibling but because – well, she’s my sister (and I’m sure that all the sisters out there reading this will understand what I mean by that !)
Anyway, on Friday afternoon last week I got an email from the receptionist at our head office in the city “A parcel has arrived for you” she wrote “I’ve given it to the truck driver who’s delivering seed to the farm tomorrow. Have a lovely weekend”. When my husband came home for mid morning coffee on Saturday, he had the parcel with him. I immediately knew that it was from my sister and opened it with glee !
Imagine my delight when I saw that it contained Nigella Lawson’s latest book “Nigella Christmas” (which will no doubt become one of those “classics” to be used year after year as it contains almost 300 pages of gorgeous, illustrated recipes). Not only that, but it has been signed “For Lynda, with love, Nigella” – she had got me a signed copy ! Well of course I started crying when I realized the effort my sister had gone to, to get this wonderful gift for me and how much she must know it would mean to me (as it is, she knows how much I love Christmas – and Nigella - and that Christmas cooking and baking are my absolute favorite pastimes each year !)
In writing this post today, I guess what I really wanted to say to those of you who live close to your sisters – treasure them. To those of you who’s children grow up with their Aunts (& cousins !) within driving distance - treasure them. To those of you who can drop by to see your sister for a cuppa tea & a chat whenever the need arises – treasure those moments. Don’t ever take it for granted. You just don’t know how lucky you are ! As an expat, living with family scattered all around the world, the hardest thing for me to bear is being away from extended family –and not having my sister there when she needs me or vice versa.
Which makes the fact that she sent me such a thoughtful gift even more special.
Which makes me realize that I’m lucky to have her, and (to change and old saying) that no matter how far the distance between us, our love & sisterly bond is the bridge that closes the distance between us.
(P.S. Did I mention that my sister is a fabulous cook ? You can see one of her recipes here)
Of course my sister, being an African herself, and having lived here for over 30 years before emigrating to the UK with her husband and 2 children a little over a year ago, knows only too well how slow and unreliable things can be in Africa. But still, she sounded exasperated and after chatting a little bit more (about our kids – what else ?!), we said goodbye & hung up.
I miss my sister, although we haven’t lived in the same country for years now. When I was working in South Africa many years ago, she was traveling & working her way around the world. (She also has a hotel background/qualifications and has worked in hotels in South Africa, the UK and Israel.) She was away for a long time but eventually returned & settled in South Africa, just as my husband and I left to start a new life for ourselves in Tanzania. Over the years she visited us here and we also saw a lot of her and her family on at least twice yearly trips to South Africa. Now they are living in the UK (we’ve visited them there once since their move) and because she’s living on a different Continent, it feels extra far away.
Families are funny things, and I’ll admit that my sister and I have our fair share of arguments and disagreements & live completely different lifestyles, but at the end of the day I really love her, not only because she’s my only sibling but because – well, she’s my sister (and I’m sure that all the sisters out there reading this will understand what I mean by that !)
Anyway, on Friday afternoon last week I got an email from the receptionist at our head office in the city “A parcel has arrived for you” she wrote “I’ve given it to the truck driver who’s delivering seed to the farm tomorrow. Have a lovely weekend”. When my husband came home for mid morning coffee on Saturday, he had the parcel with him. I immediately knew that it was from my sister and opened it with glee !
Imagine my delight when I saw that it contained Nigella Lawson’s latest book “Nigella Christmas” (which will no doubt become one of those “classics” to be used year after year as it contains almost 300 pages of gorgeous, illustrated recipes). Not only that, but it has been signed “For Lynda, with love, Nigella” – she had got me a signed copy ! Well of course I started crying when I realized the effort my sister had gone to, to get this wonderful gift for me and how much she must know it would mean to me (as it is, she knows how much I love Christmas – and Nigella - and that Christmas cooking and baking are my absolute favorite pastimes each year !)
In writing this post today, I guess what I really wanted to say to those of you who live close to your sisters – treasure them. To those of you who’s children grow up with their Aunts (& cousins !) within driving distance - treasure them. To those of you who can drop by to see your sister for a cuppa tea & a chat whenever the need arises – treasure those moments. Don’t ever take it for granted. You just don’t know how lucky you are ! As an expat, living with family scattered all around the world, the hardest thing for me to bear is being away from extended family –and not having my sister there when she needs me or vice versa.
Which makes the fact that she sent me such a thoughtful gift even more special.
Which makes me realize that I’m lucky to have her, and (to change and old saying) that no matter how far the distance between us, our love & sisterly bond is the bridge that closes the distance between us.
(P.S. Did I mention that my sister is a fabulous cook ? You can see one of her recipes here)
