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Support group in Cape Town?


Reeds

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I was wondering if anyone knows of a support group in Cape Town for people making the move to Aus in the next month or two?

We're leaving on 30 May and I would love to chat to people in similar situations. I'm leaving my whole life behind... my parents, family, friends, career... and moving to Perth with my husband and our 21 month old son. My husband's family live in Perth. My reason for the move is whole heartedly for my son.

Let me know if anyone has any suggestions. May most likely be some tearful discussions, but that's what support groups should be there for :-)

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Good luck, it's unfortunately the price you have to pay. To be honest I'd be more concerned about finding a support group when you arrive in Oz. Maybe not initially but after a few years you'll catch yourself staring blankly at something whilst your mind tries to figure things out.

We did the same thing almost 15 years years ago, left CT, family, friends and jobs behind, even our dogs! I was in such a zone that my autopilot took over, I think we ran on adrenalin for months. In fact I think it removed the emotional aspect so selling our house, cars and even the goodbyes were a blur. Our kids were both under the age of 4 so that was a full-time job and we had no family in Perth, just an acquaintance of a friend so we had to find our own way. I look back now and we've missed all the milestone family events. Our parents major birthdays, their 50th wedding anniversary, the birth of nephews and nieces and not to mention all the Xmas and birthday functions which seem endless in that part of the world.

Now both my wife and are struggling with our ailing parents who still live in CT. How we'd love to pop in and lend them a hand in the garden or fix that sliding door that won't slide. My wife would love to take them to the shops or pop in unannounced for a coffee. The kids never got to know their grand parents. They never had sleepovers at granny or an afternoon so that they could do granny and grand daughter things. My son never knew his grand dad either, not the way a boy should know his grand dad. Tinkering in the garage, learning how to knock a nail in or how to play backyard cricket using grand dads rules. My dad passed away rather suddenly last year and I realised that we may have got a lot out of our move but we really missed out on the most important stuff, our family. Now we try get back as often as possible, albeit only for a few weeks. Saying goodbye gets harder, much harder.

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Hi Reeds,

We're in a similar situation - making a fresh start with no family on the other side, but we don't have kids.

It's a pity you missed the notification under the Coffee Club menu for the gathering at Kirstenbosch that took place 11/04/2015. It was so worth attending as it was great to hear everyone else's story, experiences of the process and hopes for the future.

Perhaps another one will be organised before you leave?

You are welcome to pm me if you just want to chat. It really does help to talk to people in the same boat as I have found you can't show too much enthusiasm about the hopes and dreams for the future that you have with loved ones and friends this side, you can only really explore the sadness of leaving with them.

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Hi Reeds,

We're also still in the Cape, probably until next year sometime. You're welcome to PM me anytime. We have two small children too, and sadly missed the get-together at Kirstenbosch, am hoping for another one as we'd love to meet everyone too.

Wishing you well over the next few months!

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