Topic: ~~~The two families~~~

[piersdad]

The two families

Two couples were friends and soon after they were married they parted company and went their different ways.
One couple were happy and  had two children.  They were successful in their way and accumulated much wealth over the years.
    Although their children never wanted for anything they were strict and loved them as any parent would.
  As the years went by the children left home and mum and dad lived on in their luxury
A few friends yes but in reality lonely in their isolated splendor.
On the rare occasions when their grand children came for a visit they were apprehensive in case they damages parts of their immaculate house.

The second couple   loved children and took delight in bringing up their family.
Over the years they had two of their own children and adopted some more  and even welcomed several foster children.
    Their old house was bursting at the seams and as there was an old shed out the back it was soon rebuilt to make a comfortable sleep out.
Over the years as the family grew up the children  wanted more independence and the odd extra  illegal addition was added  to the shed and eventually many separate bedrooms  in the form of outside  sleep outs were built.
With just enough money to feed the large family there was little  left for the official permits.
 Even though, the sleep outs were warm and cozy with power, and all the normal things in a teenager’s bedroom.
It was a large section and a row of trees hid all the mess of sleep outs.
        Eventually the children started to leave home and one by one the redundant sleep outs become just store sheds.
        With the reduced family the parents were able to take the plunge and  demolish all the temporary  sheds and ordered  a two  car garage and single sleep out plus a large workshop  from a local firm.
With permits all approved, the buildings  were soon built and approved.
     Well kids will be kids, and soon they started to return to the family house and the family grew again so that the one sleep out was not enough,  so out of the garage went the car and a second sleep out was made from the now empty garage.
     Plenty of insulation and proper construction made the place warm and comfortable.
    After a while the family reduced again and for a short while the place was empty.
The father thought,  well two sleep outs , and no running water  are not much use, so being a retired handy man he began to convert the sleep outs and the last garage to a proper cottage.
Over the months a toilet, hot water, sinks and shower, was installed. A labor of love.
Just the roof lining and some walls to finish off and yet another family crisis and home came three grand children with their mum and dad.
With the incentive of having to pay a huge rent or spend a day or so finishing off the cottage , it was finished. In no time.
   Over the months a few improvements were made but short finance meant progress from then on was slow.
  Some time later  the grandmother became very ill and while she was recuperating the children still at home declared that from now on the parents are, no longer looking after the children, the children are looking after the parents.

That was it, a major shift around and the parents were shifted to the now granny cottage and the children took over the house and provided meals for the parents in their cozy retirement.

 A beautiful situation where the grand parents could really enjoy their grand children and still have their privacy

So some parents seek great wealth and fame but lose their children, they soon become lonely and forgotten ,rich in possessions poor in love.

 But  the parents who had love to their very end had the real wealth.

[dbackfan]

A familiar theme but freshly and charmingly told.  I can see this story told over time as a TV series reminiscent of The Waldens or Little House on the Prairie if you are familiar with those from America in years past.  With the backdrop of historical events, NZ cultural diversity and richness, etc. your story could well become part of NZ's literary landscape itself.    Broken into episodes would give you the chance to present various aspects of the characters over time, so the audience could really get to know them.

[piersdad]

not such a bad idea  i could write a lot more about the family.
things like how we all went to a demolished house ,free for removal ,and carted home enough timber free to build the next sleep out.
then tore down the old garage placed a floor down and re built it in a day