Aunts and Uncles

Both Jo and I were brought up with minimal blood relatives around. Most of my close family is in Ireland, and much of Jo's is her parents' chosen family. In some ways, Mamo & Tato were ahead of the curve, with a hoard of fake aunts and uncles.

We arrived in Edinburgh for Becca's wedding and before long we were out at dinner with close friends. In Nora's eyes, these people are constants. They're at all our events, dressed up and with presents. They're in sweatpants on the coach with a glass of wine watching crappy television.

We're lucky that we have people like our siblings and parents who want to take such an active role, but we're even luckier to have a deep bench of close friends who want to be involved.

Aside, Edinburgh is much colder than the rest of our trip. It's wet, a bit dreary, but somewhat romantic at the same time.