Reflections..

It is New Years Eve, and as you can tell, I am still in a reflective / thoughtful mood. I have been thinking about the past year.... not the best I've ever experienced. The year has come and gone in a bit of a blur... it feels like I have sleepwalked through most of it. The passing away of my Grandmother in February was a major reason for that - it had a huge effect ...and in all my family's life, not just my own. Everything changed for us ... all of a sudden Mum had lost her best friend and support system, bigbrother and I had lost the woman we saw as our second mother, who had helped bring us up. Roles changed... my "extended childhood" came to an end, and new responsibilities reared their head. I had to be there to look after Mum now ... to contribute to the up-keep of the house ... lots of other little things I had to think about, which would not have even entered my head a few weeks before. Our lives all changed in the closing of an eye ...... and changed forever. It brought home the fact of my own mortality .... that no-one lives forever.. that one day I will have to go through the same experience with my Mum.....

It has not all been sadness though .... it has brought us ( Mum, bigbrother and me ) even closer together. There were the trips to London ( and the London Eye ) and various other places during the summer months we took together... seeing the WOMAD music festival again .... making new friends on the Web ... there have been bursts of colour and sunlight in my life this year. But the overriding feeling is that I will be glad this year is over.

Here's hoping for a better 2007 ..... HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!