Love Actually:

We all remember the 2003 film showcasing the story of eight couples in various stages of love.  Motherpedia talked to a few people at Melbourne Airport on Christmas Eve. Some were leaving and others were waiting.*

James & Yvette

Together for two years, Yvette is English with a sister in New Zealand and her parents and other sister back home in Gloucester.  James lives in Melbourne – on and off with his dad – and his mother lives on the Gold Coast. He generally spends alternate Christmases with one of his parents or “if anything, I tend to go to mum’s more than not as I don’t see her as often as she lives interstate.”  James and Yvette are about to board a flight for the Gold Coast where they will spend four days.  Yvette’s parents are visiting Australia arriving on the 29^th. They’re spending five days with her before one week in Sydney and a two week trip around the North Island of NZ. 

Carmela & Frank and Sue & Dan and other members of their families

Carmela, Frank, Sue and Ross are first time grandparents waiting to see their 3 month old granddaughter, Lucia, for the first time. Lucia’s mother, Susanna, and father, Daniel are both Melbourne born and bred but have been living in Sweden for the past three years where Daniel is an engineer.  Carmela explains that she was going to travel to Malmo for the birth of baby Lucia but the two families thought it was a better use of their resources to combine to bring the young family home via business class.  “I would have liked to have been there for the birth but I knew Susie would get high quality medical care in Sweden and they reassured us throughout that she and the baby were healthy.”  Susanna, Daniel and Lucia are in Australia for five weeks and will also spend a week on the Gold Coast for some sunshine before returning to Sweden.

Grace

A full time hairdresser and part time barmaid, Grace has worked two jobs all year to take a four week break to her dream destinations – New York City, Las Vegas and Los Angeles – with two girl friends.  The trio arrive in Manhattan on Christmas Day and intend doing the ‘Sex and the City’ day tour the next day to get oriented.  They’re spending 10 days in the Big Apple, one week in Las Vegas and about eight days in LA. Grace admits she is “beside myself with excitement” and expects she’ll have to continue working the two jobs throughout 2012 to pay the credit card bill on her return.

Pauline, Ian and Andrew, 15, & Isabel, 17

The family are travelling to Russia to visit Moscow and St Petersburg.  “Russia?” asks motherpedia.  It turns out Ian had “a whole heap” of frequent flyer points which had to be used before the end of January so the family talked about where they wanted to go seven months ago and decided on Russia as it was “very different from anywhere we’ve ever been before or likely to go to again” according to Pauline.  Previously, as a family, they’ve had trips to Bali, Fiji, the US west coast and England and France.  They are away for four weeks, have not much idea what to expect, but have plenty of warm clothes.

Jeff

Jeff, a school teacher, is waiting for Kate, another school teacher, who has been working in London for the past six months.  He is very nervous as it’s the first extended time they’ve had apart in the three years they’ve been together.  “I’ve missed her a lot. I hope she feels the same.”  They’ve kept in touch regularly via e-mail and Skype; they were both “free to go out with others if we wanted” but Jeff said he didn’t want to and didn’t even attempt.  Could this be love actually? motherpedia asks.  Jeff grins.

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*        We can report no sign of Hugh Grant or Colin Firth.