Grapevine Magazine

This week's 'Just the Juice' link: https://mailchi.mp/grapevine/fully-human-listen-learn-love-platoon-parents-like-a-seal-one-pot-faves

THERE’S NOT MUCH TO SEE here at Gallipoli, but the names say it all: tiny Anzac Cove, where that fateful first-landing was made … Chunuk Bair, the high ridge that was fought over so savagely … Lone Pine, where Turkish trenches were taken at such an appalling price … the memorial to Turkey’s 57th Regiment, not one of whom survived … monuments, flags, and cemeteries all over the place …
For eight brutal months, Allied forces battled the Ottoman army for this strategic location – a campaign that ultimately failed, at enormous cost to both sides. Among the dead (officially 131,000, but likely way more) were 2721 Kiwi soldiers – roughly one quarter of the New Zealanders who fought here. And the gravestones of the fallen seem to stretch forever.
The astonishing respect felt by both sides is reflected in a bronze statue of a Turkish soldier carrying a wounded Australian. And the gracious words of Turkey’s wartime leader, Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk), are especially poignant:
“Those heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives … you are now living in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore, rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours … You the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries: wipe away your tears. Your sons are now living in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”
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[READ JOHN COONEY’S WHOLE ARTICLE ON ISTANBUL AND GALLIPOLI: https://www.grapevine.org.nz/articles/istanbul-gallipoli/ ]

RICH ENOUGH / M-I-L / MISS-CONNECTION / WORRYING / ISTANBUL & GALLIPOLI🕊️ - https://mailchi.mp/grapevine/rich-enough-m-i-l-miss-connection-worrying-istanbul-gallipoli
We’ve got sage advice on money matters from Mary Holm and tongue-in-cheek tips on ‘How to Worry’ from Guy Browning in this week’s ‘Just the Juice’… We’ve also got expert input (x2) on improving relationships with the notoriously-tricky Mother-in-Law and teenage daughters, and a travel article that’ll take you on an emotional rollercoaster as you visit Istanbul and Gallipoli vicariously…

WE DECIDED TO SURPRISE a young grandson yesterday. We decided to turn up unannounced and watch him play rugby. We decided to drive all the way to Thames (on the Coromandel Coast), park near the playing fields, sneak onto the sideline, and wait for him to spot us. But we didn’t allow for the weather …
This wasn’t the first time I’ve watched a game in less-than-ideal conditions. In fact, I hold the record in our family for standing in pouring rain, clomping around in leaky gumboots, and frantically urging ‘our team’ to beat the pants off the other team.
But this is the first time I’ve done it in an arctic gale.
I heard later on the News that we’d been hit by the “World’s Biggest Storm” – stretching all the way from Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, and centred (I’m convinced) on Thames. It was bucketing down before we even got there, with icy sleet trying to smash our windscreen and angry low clouds trying to swallow our car. And, when we ventured out onto the paddock, we were met (I kid you not) by Force-10 winds and horizontal rain!
My wife lasted less than five minutes. She scuttled back under shelter with two granddaughters and one wrecked umbrella. But not me! My grandson was out there, battling the blizzard, and I couldn’t abandon him, could I?
Kids seem to like having grandfathers at their games, eh. And the look on this boy’s face when he first saw me – and heard me – made it all worthwhile. He stopped shivering and came alive, running and tackling and rucking and scrambling with twice the enthusiasm. And he even managed to score a try!
We survived the “World’s Biggest Storm”, my grandson and I. And we stuck it out together ‘til the final whistle blew. He came away with a pat on the back for having played well – and I came away with sodden jeans, muddy shoes, a runny nose, and some great memories.
Fun? You betcha! I wouldn’t have missed it for anything …
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JOHN (GRAPEVINE’S FOUNDER) RECKONS THE PROBLEM WITH WINTER SPORTS IS THAT THEY MOSTLY TAKE PLACE IN WINTER. “YOU’D GET MORE GRANDPARENTS OUT,” HE CLAIMS, “IF WINTER SPORTS WERE PLAYED IN SUMMER.”
[FIND MORE AWESOME ANECDOTES AND ARTICLES ON OUR WEBSITE: https://www.grapevine.org.nz]