Warrigal, it feels like just yesterday you lost your husband. For you, it would have been a long year.
Your wee GGD is a cutie. Part of the great times.
A lot has happened since Hubby died. Much of it has been frustrating, dealing with banks, utilities and government departments. Fortunately, I now have my wonderful daughter living with me. She has been a great help to me and has taken on the yard work like a navvy. She is a nurse in charge of a specialised dental/facial unit in a large public hospital, and she is very adept when dealing with bureaucracy.
Halfway through this year her youngest daughter also has moved in. She is a total pleasure to live with. A music therapist by profession, she is compassionate and very thoughtful. She is also very beautiful, both inside and out, and has a beau who seems to have adopted me as a grandmother. I always get a kiss and a hug when he visits.
It hasn't been an easy year but it could have been a lot worse. I consider myself blessed in so many ways, not the least being over 60 years of marriage, a marriage that allowed me to fulfill myself by having a career outside the home. This allowed us to have a very comfortable life that was not flash, but neither was it a struggle.
I am grateful for the life I have been able to live - grateful for having been born when I was, grateful that my father returned home from war service in New Guinea, grateful for my good health and for public health campaigns such as vaccinations for childhood diseases and things like free X-rays for TB. Grateful for my wonderful, funny mother and her sisters, my aunties, who were so much part of my life.
I lost my dad when I was only 25. He died suddenly aged 57 but he survived long enough to see both of my children born. He loved babies and I'm glad that he was a part of their early lives.
I'm ever so grateful that I met Hubby when we were both teenagers playing in the same tennis team. We were both 20 years old when we married. That marriage has now ended, but with more than six decades together I have so many wonderful memories that comfort me when I feel a bit sad.
Last night I could not sleep because I was remembering how Hubby died and the precious time I was given between his heart attack and his last breath. I was with him to the very end, even until his body was collected and taken to the funeral parlour. So was my daughter.
Today both of us will be thinking about the man who was so much a part of both our lives. There will be no tears today because of all of the above, but every now and then they do sneak up and catch me unawares.
