Maki has very special visitors at the moment. 11 of them to be exact…his mum and stepdad and his little brother and sister from New Zealand and aunts, uncles, cousins, and his grandmother from Norway—every single person he is related to on his mother’s side. It seems that southern California is as convenient as it gets for a half-way point family reunion.  I think we are all a little dazed in the experience, but its been great!

This year, Maki told his mum that this year he wanted to stay in California, especially as it was the last summer before his senior year in high school. He’s never spent a summer here in the six years since we moved to California. Instead, he asked if she would visit him in his world. Not only did she agree, but the whole family decided to come and check out his town. It’s really quite amazing.

They’ve been staying at an Airbnb in Oceanside, about a half hour south of us. It’s a great house, a perfect base for all of them in as they choose their own adventures. Maki has been with them there, and Justine and I have gone down several times to join them. Synnove, Maki’s mother, recognizes that having a new place to base their California vacation memories is  I met most of them last summer, when I visited Norway with Maki. But it was still a poignant moment for me the first evening we all ate together after taking the children to the beach:Just as the sun was setting, I looked up from the end of the long table on the restaurant’s rooftop space, counting 13 other people, all coming together to show their support at making an internationally blended family work. It IS work, there is a lot of loss and too much distance involved on both sides. But who cares anymore? The point is, we are all deeply connected by the love of a young man that we want to see thriving and strong as he goes into his future. We know him in different ways, and all of them are valuable and valid.

Even Justine and Jennifer, Maki’s little sisters, both eight years old, understand that their family has grown. Now they call each other sisters. Justine says she has two brothers now, Maki and Daniel and one sister, Jennifer. Some of them just happen to live somewhere else. She loves adding cousins and aunts and uncles to her expanded family too. Jennifer asked me yesterday if I was her step-mother. After some explaining to a confused little face, I decided to agree with her: “If that makes the most sense, then yes, I guess I’m your step-mother.” So I guess I inherited a bunch of new kids too!

So for those who can’t get over the differences and the distances in their own families, I offer this page from our book. It’s possible. LOVE is the most powerful force of all, if you remember to let it come to the surface where it can do its best work.

Here are the kids yesterday at the Laguna Art Festival, where my mother is exhibiting her work. They are are all focused on making ink prints. Magnus: Norway, Jennifer: Norway/New Zealand, Maki: England/Norway (with USA Green Card), Maria: Norway, Justine: England/USA, Daniel: Norway/New Zealand. If anyone asks me why I don’t believe in borders, I can show them this photo, I suppose. I love all these little citizens of the world. What a delight it is to have them come together.