I’m 42!
I had a great birthday. I’ve been in contact with the people I love and received visits, phonecalls, emails, gifts and comments from lots of great people wishing me a happy birthday.
I enjoyed my day out for brunch with my friend Rhonda, who is born the same day as me. It was good. I went for a swim in the afternoon and then my parents visiting, bringing dinner this evening.
I feel tired and grateful for my day and my life.
After my Nana went in 1999, my pa remarried at 80. He had such a positive loving relationship with Nana, I don’t think he would have known how to live alone. The year he was alone was terribly sad. It was great to see him setting off on adventures again with a companion to care for him. He was a big traveller.
Today I have been thinking how lucky I have been to have a grandfather, that I enjoyed being with, until I was 41. I lost my Nana when I was 34. They were both really important loving forces in my life. I lived with them (and my parents and Auntie) for the first 5 years of my life. Pa used to say to my boyfriends, “She’s a wonderful girl, bit spoilt though!”. He should know, they were the one who couldn’t let me cry as a baby so my parents tell me and endless other kindnesses in the years to follow.
When my daughter was two months old, my husband and I moved in with Nana and Pa for some months whilst we looked for a house. Nana had just had a hip replacement operation, so I cooked for Pa and helped out whilst she was on the mend. It was a beautiful time of my adulthood and I cried when we moved. Everyone was astonished thinking I’d be delighted to be buying my first home, but I didn’t want to leave their warm and loving home.
My children were old enough to know both of them and loved them as I did. I think we were incredibly lucky.
They were really there for me for such a long time. I remember as a child asking my Nana to promise me she would never die. She never would make that promise. She reassured me telling me I would be fine when it happened, I would be ready. I wasn’t, but I can’t complain how long they stayed nor the quality of their presence in my life.
The most interesting thing about this film for me was watching Lauren Graham in a different role. I have been watching ‘The Gilmour Girls’ this year on DVD. I love the series and especially Lorelai’s character. So to see a different character, who wasn’t as strong and spunky as Lorelai, was kind of freaky.
‘Evan Almighty’ was ok, there were a couple of laughs but I could have waited to see it on DVD. I must restore my weekly excursions to the cinema to see movies I want to see. I haven’t felt compelled to see anything for a while though. Or doing anything much for that matter. All this must change!
My excursion with my adorable neice and nephew today was a great start. They were so fun and grateful, it was an absolute pleasure and the perfect antidote to the misery I’ve been wallowing in lately. I really need to remember this experience and be more proactive at doing different things to snap out of these funks I find myself in from time to time.