Family

I spent the weekend with my family. Unfortunately I had to go on my own as we've got an issue with our dog, Cassy - she can't be left or has to go everywhere with us. Not a good situation but that's a whole other story. Anyway, I went to my ex's as he did a wonderful bbq celebration lunch for our son, who was awarded Teacher of the Year for his area. Quite an accomplishment for a young man of just 22yrs and only been in the job for 2 yrs.

It was a wonderful day with lots of his friends and family there. I got to spend some wonderful time with my precious granddaughter, Jorja. She's an utter delight. So sweet natured and so funny even at just seven months old. I still can't believe I'm "Nanny Di" at just 43 yrs old. Although my Dad was the same age when I had my first son so maybe it's history repeating itself.

In the evening, I went to my sister's where I was spending the night. We had such a lovely time together. My parents, brother and aunt were also there and my youngest son for a little while until he had to go to work. I realised as I sat there that these people are so precious to me. We are very close as a family. I think we've always been close but after a horrible family tragedy 8 yrs ago, we've been even closer. To cut a long story short, and I can't go into it fully because it's still too traumatic, and still being fought in the High Court, my brother was tried, convicted and imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit.

Those years were hard and stressful beyond anything I've ever suffered including my divorce. We had to pull together as a family and we did. So sitting there Saturday night I realised how important my family was to me. How precious and how lucky we are to have each other. And it made me so happy to be back in Kent to be near them. I moved because I needed to be near my children and little Jorja but I knew sat there that it was also to be near my brother, sister and parents.

However, I was glad to get home Sunday afternoon to my husband. I missed him. And he seemed to have missed me too. ;) We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening chilling in the living room watching movies and my West Wing dvds. Steve worked on the laptop at the same time. It was idyllic. Quiet. Peaceful and us.

And yesterday I spent the day cleaning our flat and working. Steve cooked dinner in the evening while I soaked in a warm bath. We'd had bad news that our neighbour had died. He had a massive heart attack while they were operating on his hip. It was a shock even though he was in his 80's. He'd started to recover from the stroke so well and was doing great according to his wife and family. And then he just died. It really affected Steve and I. I got out the bath and sat in the living room reading a magazine while Steve finished cooking dinner. He suddenly put his head round the door and said "I really love you. So very much". He's said that before but the look on his face and in his eyes told me something more than just the words I was hearing. It was passionate. Deep and meaningful. I asked him what brought that on... he was so affected by our neighbours death. That he wanted to let me know how much he cared about me and that we should treasure every day with each other. And I agree. I already knew that from my experience with my brother. How in a second your life can change. How you never know what's round the corner.

It was ironic to me that the past couple of days had been so emotional and so thought provoking in terms of my feelings towards those closest to me. The day before I went to see my son and my family, I'd done this layout. It's my dad and his grandchildren. They all absolutely adore him as we all do. So I thought I'd share it here with you all.