Our beginnings…
Mother’s Day seems like an apt occasion for a little reflection on our kin2kin journey and a reminder of why we do what we do.
It’s a day to connect with family and show a little love for the mum’s (or those that ‘mum’ us) — but it’s especially poignant in our family as mum passed away 16 years ago.
Mum was the connector and communicator in our family — not just our household but our wider family too. She was the family glue; great at picking up the phone, writing letters, having dinner parties and organising family get togethers.
Without her we had to find new ways of being a family.
After university, my two brothers and I were scattered across the world: building careers and starting families of our own. Staying in touch with Dad and each other became even more difficult as our lives got busier and further apart.
While living abroad with my young family, I found it difficult to connect our kids to the love and support network of wider family back in NZ.
Not just a one-way broadcast of our photos, but real interaction that included the kids rather than using us as the go-betweens. For the grandparents, I wanted organised photos so they could easily revisit them like photo albums of old.
But most importantly I wanted somewhere safe where our family could be ourselves — loving and kind, but ridiculous and ridiculing too. All together like the Christmas day dinner table.
We created kin2kin to help family be family — no matter where they lived. A safe and private place online where family can support and nurture each other despite distance and time zones. It includes all generations to develop relationships through the richness of sharing of photos and messaging — cousin to cousin, grandparent to grandchild, aunt to nephew, and godchild to godparent.
Since we started, we’ve continued to develop ways to make family life easier and more connected. Now on kin2kin you can buy and send gifts, print photos, and send private messages. Read more about how it works.
Mother’s Day is always a time of reflection — both for our loss, but also treasuring what we have.
Mum had one month with her first grandchild before passing away. Our kids missing out on a relationship with her is the biggest tragedy. But our photos, and the recorded bedtime stories she made for her future grandchildren, are treasured by all of us.
kin2kin not only allows us to stay connected with family in the present, but also reminisce on favourite memories from the past.
We love hearing how other people use kin2kin, so get in touch and tell us your kin2kin stories.
