Good News and Bad

The holidays have been bitter sweet. The good news is that it kicked off early on December 12^th with a visit from my other granddaughter and family. Nearly a year since I’ve seen them and the great grandies are growing away. This is my son with two of his grandchildren.

 Here is the middle one with her Aunt and me. And can you see Jade trying to be left out?

Christmas Day was blissful with the immediate family.

In the week that followed we met up with some new friends for  a perfect dog walk.

On New Year’s Eve we drove to Sussex to see my a former sister-in-law  and were treated to a great home made meal by her good friend.

The bitter element almost overshadowed all that. At the end of Christmas Day I learnt that a good friend’s lovely husband, who had been rather unwell for a couple of weeks, had been rushed into hospital in the early hours of the morning and diagnosed with severe, aggressive leukaemia. He only lingered a week – the chemo didn’t work – and he died at about 6 pm on New Year’s Eve. A couple of hours later we brought home his distraught bride of five months who was also exhausted after her bedside vigil. She stayed with us all through New Year’s Day and that night, and was collected by family this morning.

She and I became friends at college nearly forty years ago and have kept in touch ever since, becoming closer now that we live only a few miles apart. She lost another husband 10 years ago when living overseas. I was delighted when she met this new man and married him a year later, just last August. They were perfect for each other, and now she will be alone again after such a terrible shock. It is so cruel and sad.