It’s a few days before Christmas and here I am, sitting in one of my most favorite spots, the verandah of my ancestral home. As I look back and contemplate the year that has been, I try to break down the share worthy moments and … I really do not know where to begin. The Rebello Lobo's have had another almost unbelievable year! A year of TRANSITIONS, TRIALS and TRIUMPHS.
TRANSITIONS
The Big move to Colombo
Taliya took the
journey very well and has since taken to Island life like quite the seasoned
third culture dog she is. She might quite possibly be the only Lahsa Apso in
Sri Lanka and as a result has been getting quite the celebrity attention.
Colombo reminds us so much of home, and we are loving the food, the music, the culture, and the beaches. Home is just a one hour flight away and just knowing we can hop on a flight and be there for birthdays, weddings or even just to spend the weekend with family and friends is liberating.
What we miss most is amazon, amatriciana and potato chips.
We have a beautiful home, with enough space for plenty of guests and so look forward to welcoming all of you sometime soon.
Arhantika's big move to Spain
After 6 years in the UK, Arhantika took a big leap of faith and moved to Madrid on a Spanish Global Nomad visa. She continues to work remotely for the Advocacy Hub in London, while also continuing Quake (BTW she celebrated 3 years of Quake with a wonderful community event in London before she left). The gen z life! The move has quite literally opened up her senses in every way imaginable. From delectable tapas to the lively music scene, and buzzing cultural events, Arhantika quote unquote is "living her best life".
Her work involves some
great communications and advocacy initiatives in the sustainable food sector,
so do check out Beans is How, the
ambitious campaign to make
visible the importance of beans as a simple, affordable solution to our global
financial, health and environmental challenges. In solidarity, we have also
pledged to eat Beans at least once a week and we hope one of your new year
resolutions can be the same.
Ryeika’s move out of campus into the ‘realer’ world
Ryeika had an intense second
year of university, while also managing a part time youth work placement. After
two years of living on campus, Ryeika moved into an apartment with friends and
has had an interesting few months dealing with fussy landlords, mold and flat mates,
while also enjoying the larger space and liberties that come with your own
place. She is preparing to graduate in a few months and as she navigates final
submissions and this year’s placements, she has begun to think of what next-
and it looks like a Masters is what she wants. While she lost one sister to
Spain, she welcomed another one to London and the two musketeers are back
together again.
Neeira flies the nest-
moves to London
Neeira graduated high school this year and went on several trips through the summer. The big highlight was the inter rail trip she did with friends through the Netherlands, Germany and the Czech Republic.
She then spent the rest
of the summer with us in Colombo and then left for University in London in
September. As luck would have it Liraya and I were down with covid and so the
goodbyes were heart wrenching and across barriers. However, sad goodbyes notwithstanding, she has settled in so well into SOAS and is enjoying the London life.
She lives on campus, has made new friends and frequently also meets many of her
Rome school friends who are there. She and Ryeika try and meet often, Neeira to
get her weekly quota of TLC and Ryeika to dish out big sister financial advice (how
to stretch the pound on a student budget) and of course feed her biryani.
Liraya takes on
Colombo
Liraya was highly apprehensive
about this move, especially as she was doing this one solo, without her
sisters. But she has made us so very proud at how quickly she settled into
school and life in Colombo. She has made lots of friends, has got involved in
several school activities and though she does miss life in Rome, she has embraced
this new experience with resilience and grit. Am not sure how much she is
enjoying being the only child at home, but we sure are treasuring every minute,
because before we know it, it will be her turn to fly the nest.
TRIALS
It all began one
beautiful spring day in Rome when what was to be a routine dash to the local
supermarket, turned out to be so much more. Loading groceries into the car, I serendipitously
banged my head as I walked right into the open car door. I say serendipitous
because, the consequent bump on my head felt alarming and as a cautionary
measure my doc asked me to go take a CT scan. The scan showed nothing amiss at
the site of the bump, but the radiologist did come out looking alarmed and asked
me, “Do you know you have a right frontal lobe meningioma?” Well…I didn’t.
We were four weeks away from closing up home and the news hit us like nothing has, ever before. The good news though, was that it was one of the better tumors to have, it was not malignant, and a highly skilled and experienced neurosurgeon was available to operate right away. The days between finding out and the craniotomy were filled with anxiety, but the love we saw during that time, and the weeks and months that followed pulled us out from the scariest of days, into a miraculous tomorrow. My parents, the Shenoy's, the Rebello's, my friends and the chief tumor (now less) committee... even though I have said this before, I think I need to say it again. Thank you for saying the right words at the right time, for letting me rant, then gently reminding me of the many silver linings (and there were many). Thank you most of all for making me laugh and getting me to focus on the outpouring of love that came from far corners of the world. And to my four treasures and G- thank you for holding fort, holding me up, holding me close and never doubting that there would be anything but a good outcome. This love is wherein I finally buried my fear, found my strength and reached a place of Zen.
Well, we moved to Colombo on schedule, and we thought that that was the end of the tumor trials. But…a few weeks in, we noticed a lump on Taliya’s tail. A new season of the tumor trials began and poor baby, her recovery post-surgery was worse than mine. A month of daily trips to dress the wound, massage the tail (It had begun to die), get antibiotic injections began, but again her resilience was admirable and slowly slowly she began to wag that tail again and all was well. I am delighted to say that 6 months down the line the tumor buddies are both doing very very well.
TRIUMPHS
The above trials were
of course in the end triumphs as we recovered well. But in addition we do have another big triumph to share.
Celebrating 25 years together
In Jan 2023 we completed
25 years together and though we could not celebrate on that day we did try and
find moments throughout the year to celebrate and all six of us will end the
year celebrating this milestone in the Maldives. We will celebrate the
successful transitions, the trials that challenged us and changed us and most
importantly we will celebrate the love that envelops us. In spite of the year
we had, our hearts will dance with gratitude for the present and for the love that makes our life a
beautiful one.
As we mark Christmas
this year, we cannot help but feel sombre, as the peace of the manger that we joyously
celebrate seems at odds with the atrocities happening not only in that very
region but also in so many other parts of the world. However, in spite of the hopelessness,
let us remind ourself of the daily miracles we witness, and find strength in the ways we each make the world a better place.
This Christmas we wish
you find moments of stillness amongst the fast paced world we live in. May you
have the courage to shamelessly share your inner world because there is someone
out there suffering alone who may hear you and find the courage to move forward. And may we give each other a little bit of our own light when we have some to
spare, because surely there is enough light to go around?
With all our love,
The Rebello Lobos
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