Erin, Ava, Dave and Sophie

Frankie and Sophie

Stu baby with Blogger Frankie

 

 

Brian Laurance, Brian Laurance and Ray Laurance

Brian Laurance, Brian Laurance and LynnD Laurance

Where would be we be without Google? A couple of years ago I  learned that Google Images would find your matching pictures even if they had been pixilated. A test was required to prove the theory and so a beaut picture of Isabel and I on a balcony verandah in the south of France was the bait followed by a click of the ‘search’ button.

The result was 16 pages of images of couples and families, old and young, big and small,  sitting on verandahs, in parks, downtown, in the lounge room and even a picture of a horse before proceeding to the knackery. Nothing like the original search engine image of Brian and Isabel, but couched within that plethora of images was a simple black and white picture of Brian Laurance, financial controller of an American Construction company.

Brian the finance guru lived with his wife LynnD and their 2 daughters in Tacoma near Seattle in Washington State. This Brian was the second Laurance I had communicated with over the last couple of years, the other being a native of Auckland NZ and all having the common problem of trying vainly to impart the spelling of the family name over the telephone; whether for theatre tickets, a restaurant booking or setting up a new account.

The US component of the family hailed from Flemmish weaver stock, persecuted as protestants and ending up in the Netherlands before emmigrating to the land of the free. The Kiwi branch turned out to be very much closer with his great, great grandfather being the brother of my great, great grandfather, all one time weavers who had settled in Ireland. One cannot imagine European weavers persecuted for their protestant religion choosing to move to Ireland. But I choose to leave the past right there!

In 2009 we travelled to NZ aboard the Diamond Princess which had us disembark in Auckland and a chance to catch up with the Brian Laurances from across the ditch. We spent a very pleasant few days with Brian and his wife Janice, his Mum June and Dad Ray and their families, chewing over respective family histories and coming away with the original log my great great grandfather Thomas Clarke Laurance kept while a young lieutenant on a sailing ship working his passage from Cork to Quebec.

Three years later in 2012 we travelled to the north west US city of Seattle and had dinner with Brian and LynnD Laurance at a popular mariner near their home in nearby Tacoma. A really pleasant after work gathering with the setting sun and boats gently bobbing in the calm harbour waters and a chance to compare family histories. With further travelling planned in coming years Google may turn up more Brian Laurances

   

This week we have heard from and seen mummy-bloggers, but the real scoop is the crop of new baby-bloggers. A quick note from grandpa to Frankie in Melbourne drew a hasty and thoughtful response.

Grandpa to Frankie

“G’Day Frankie, Grandpa came across your little frozen cubes of veggies in the freezer and decided to write and ask how you are getting on?
I suppose you are now way past blitzed veggies and taking in t ‘bone steak in your adventurous strides.
Say hello to your Mum and Dad for me and say we are looking forward to March 26
Pip pip!
Love Grandpa”

Blogger Frankie replied

Dear Grandpa
It was lovely to hear from you. I still quite like puréed food, but don’t send it over…enjoy it yourself, perhaps stir it through a pasta, together with some chorizo. Mum made me a Ploughman’s Lunch today, which I thought was quite strange because I am not a Ploughman, nor do I have any idea what a Ploughman is.

It was good anyway, and it had lettuce and carrot, some ham, cherry tomatoes, grapes and a piece of toast with pesto spread on BOTH sides. As is the custom with the peeps in my set, if its worth eating straight from a plate it’s worth throwing on the floor, having mum pick it up and put it on the plate again, then eat it (repeat step one and two as necessary). Mum also made some icypoles out of banana, which I just love.

Anyway, you should know that I’ve pushed up a couple of little chompers, which I reckon is great because I can now bite things like my bed and the wooden frame around the mirror and it leaves a couple of little indentations (that’s a big word…where did I learn that?). Dad reckons they’re a bit crooked and went straight out and took out health insurance with orthodontics cover. I think he overreacted, although I will concede that, given that I only have two lower teeth, I do technically have an underbite.

Dad bought a little seat for me that attaches to the handle bars of his bike. I reckon it’s great fun…he and I rode down to a cafe in Carlton this morning…he had a coffee, but didn’t get one for me. As a consequence, I fell asleep on the way home.

Did I tell you that I’m going to day care every Thursday and Friday whilst mum and Dad are at work and Uni? I really like it there…it’s at the University of Melbourne, so most of my friends there are the kids of academics…best I don’t go into the details, but I know you’ll be the one to appreciate the implications of that (let’s just say that nappy rash is not the only thing that is RED there).

I’m really looking forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks…I think you’ll be pretty impressed with how well I’m doing…I think you’ll realise that I’m your best grandchild, even if its unlikely that I’ll carry on your name. There’s no need to say anything about it, but know that I know that you know.

Lots of Love

Frankie.

Xxx