A beautiful path
Easter is near and the seasons are changing. A family gathering offers time to connect and to notice the beautiful path that each one has travelled.
There seemed to be quite a bit of hop, skip and jumping as the month drew to a rapid close. It is a gentler time of year as we look forward to the Easter weekend. Whether you celebrate the holiday or not, the smell of hot cross buns and mountains of brightly wrapped eggs do give off a happy vibe.
Here in the southern hemisphere it is cooler in darkening mornings. There are still warm, and even some hot, days but the air whispers cool kisses across grass that remains dew-drenched for longer. The summer is spent and the autumn is nudging its way in.
Our enormous pin oak has highlights of yellow in its still abundant green foliage. The full crown belies the carpet of leaves that pretties the grey paving stones of the driveway. The Virginia creeper is starting to sprout some red leaves too.
A visit from Oz
Chantal’s middle brother and his family were visiting from Australia. A Sunday brunch was organised exclusively for them to meet the two newest members of the growing family: Leah and Liam.
The other brothers and great grandparents had been left off the invite list to ensure a smaller, more intimate gathering. While big family get-togethers are great, they can be overwhelming and very loud.
There were no littlies the last time the Aussie side of the family saw Cailyn and Sean. This was their time to reconnect with older cousins and tiny off spring.
After days of grey and cool, they must have brought the sun with them and Sunday dawned sun bright and warm.
We had hoped that the house would have been put back to its original form plus upgrades by their visit but it was not to be. More watery surprises had resulted in more delays.
Happily, the covered patio was conveniently clear. The dismantled cupboards had all been taken to new homes so we were able to set up there. The pink, blue and yellow serviettes stuck in tumblers to prevent them being whipped off by the breeze, swayed in a colourful welcome on the freshly set table.
A family catch up
At each door buzz, Leah wanted to vet who was allowed in the gate.
“It’s the guys, at the gate,” she said with wide eyes pointing to the front door.
Chantal took her to the front door each time to check who was in the driveway and let her press the button to open the gate. It’s all so fascinating for her.
The families ate fruit and yogurt, quiches and croissants, and caught up with each other. Three years had passed since the cousins had seen each other. The passage of time was marked by each person’s life path from our time together in France celebrating Chantal’s parents 60th wedding anniversary, to now.
Two are completing Masters degrees, the next oldest is a criminal lawyer, Judson has just purchased his first home and Cailyn and Sean have a second child. Tristan circled back to attend university as an under grad and is currently in his 3rd year.
They are, in different ways and different stages, entering or settling into adulthood. Parenthood obviously sets Cailyn and Sean on a more complex path navigating not one but two children. Priorities shift from focusing on studies and claiming degrees, to the pressures and challenges of work life and then the juggle of being new parents.
A beautiful path
It is a beautiful, magnificent path, much of it lost in the race to the next degree, better job, next baby milestone. As the oldest family members of this group we look on and wish that time could slow down for a while.
We won’t forget these moments but we still mark them by arranging everyone in a group for photos. Maybe to add to our wall, maybe to scroll through in years to come. We’ll say what everyone does at times like these:
“Oh look how young he/she/we looked then!”
“See how tiny the babies were.”
“He looks so like his dad.”
“She’s looking so much like her mum.”
We are grateful that our families are able to travel and meet up like this. Time does pass but we seem to pick up where we left off the last time, as if it was only yesterday.
Easter and Pesach mark holidays in our calendar when we hope to gather together and hear the laughter of children, the joking of young adults and the gossiping of the older clan.
They come with the changing of seasons that note a breathing out and readying for colder days in the southern hemisphere. In the northern hemisphere there is the anticipation of warmer weather, the excitement of longer days. There are colour, light and temperature signals of movement and transition.
May we all step lightly over these bridges while we hold hope and love in our hearts. May the holidays remind us of our connections and the importance of laying precious memory stones on our pathway of life.
Until next time.
Yours in feeling,
Chantal & Matthew
Why the Quad God Choked at the Olympics and Won Worlds Five Weeks Later
The Certainty Deficit is the space between what you can do and what your body will let you do when it counts. It is context-specific. You might have zero deficit in one situation and a significant one in another. Ilia Malinin, the “Quad God”, just showed what that looks like. He scored 329.40 at the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague at the end of March 2026. Five weeks earlier, at the Winter Olympics in Milan, he scored 156 in the free skate, fell twice, and dropped from first after the short programme to eighth overall. His Worlds score would have won the Olympic gold by nearly 38 points.
Same skater. Same season. Same jumps.
Credits for this issue — Images: 5th Place
Written by
Chantal Dawtrey
Supporting women, especially in midlife and beyond, to navigate life transitions · Emotional fitness coach
Chantal supports women, especially in midlife and beyond, to navigate life transitions. She designs and delivers data informed digital programmes that build organisational emotional fitness. She helps people move beyond habitual patterns into greater awareness, agency, and well being.
With over 15 years of coaching experience and more than two decades in facilitation and human development, Chantal partners with individuals, teams, and organizations to build emotional resilience, enhance self-awareness, and develop sustainable well-being strategies.
Her primary focus as a coach is supporting women, especially those in their 50’s and beyond, to navigate profound life transitions with clarity, steadiness and self-reconnection. Finding answers to questions about identity, purpose, belonging and desire to an emergence, a reclamation and a return to self.
If you're going through a transition and would like support, let's talk.
Matthew Green
Reducing the Certainty Deficit in high-performing people and teams · Emotional fitness coach
Matthew works with athletes, performance teams, and anyone who wants to reduce the Certainty Deficit in their situation or context.
The Certainty Deficit is the space between what you can do and what your body will let you do when it counts. It is context-specific and situational. A person or athlete can have zero deficit in one situation and a significant one in another.
The body holds beliefs that keep the Certainty Deficit in place. These beliefs run deeper than self-talk and faster than any conscious strategy. When they shift, the ceiling shifts, and new possibilities arise.
Matthew is also an emotional fitness coach who supports individuals to live and lead from a place of inner clarity and stability. The work is somatic-first, practical, and grounded.
If you're seeing a pattern that current approaches haven't shifted, let's talk.
My origin story: Why elite athletes underperform when it counts
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