Families and letting go

Trish Carn considers the meaning of family

by Trish Carn 23rd December 2016

My uncle once built a stable for my parents’ crèche. This nativity scene was an important part of Christmas as I grew up. My immediate family was small. My parents each had one sister and, as neither had children, I had no cousins, only a younger brother. The family was enlarged through ‘honorary’ aunts and uncles and their children. I loved visiting my grandparents and my father’s sister and her husband, who built lots of things – including my dining table and corner cupboard.