Family & Loving

Repeated on Facebook

At the moment, some of you might have noticed, we’re going through a difficult time.

Life is about difficult times too. What happens when a family goes through a tough time is one of two things, they blow apart or they stick ever closer together.

I am so incredibly proud of how my family has stuck together. I honestly believe that we are all the stronger for the tough times we share and it helps us appreciate the good times.

For me, also, it means a lot, I mean, deep down a lot, to have my extended family in the Philippines. Dennis and his family and friends. His mum writes me quite a lot and I know they say prayer there too.

Over here and around the world I have friends saying prayers all over the place, Steve & Rosie down in Kent, Jonny over in NYC, Daniel in Atlanta.

Those who don’t have a faith are still talking to something or someone asking for help even the total non believers.

What will be will be. I have to trust that this works out even if now we have no clue what the outcome will be.

Sure, it’s more upsetting than I can put into words to have your little girl begging to come home and having to walk away. I’ve actually done it all too often with my kids, had to push them away, it never hurts less. I carry the guilt every moment of every day. Knowing it is the best thing for them doesn’t make it better, it just rationalises it.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not feeling sorry for myself. I am fairly certain I am just voicing what every parent goes through to one extent or another. You know, the first day at school walking away when they have tears running down their face and we’re bottling ours up because we need to be strong for them … wow … worse yet, when they give us a big smile and turn away without a care in the world and we still have that lump in our throat because our little baby is growing up … ouch.

Whoever said parenting is easy is probably a man and he probably works and only sees the kids at the weekend! But hey, I am not stereotyping here, if that applies to you and your not a working man, put your hands up if you think parenting is easy!

We’re going to be OK us lot, all of us, there is love there. No one goes through this much muck in their lives without working out that sometimes we need a little manure to help us grow as people!

But look, your worries might seem small compared to ours but they are big to you, it’s all relative. Someone who has never been ill might think they are having the worst experience on earth when they have a cold and to them, that’s the truth. It’s not a competition. We will all at some point in our lives know someone worse off than us. As my youngest said to me earlier and, I shall paraphrase … it doesn’t matter if I am always in pain with headaches dad, if you have a headache then you have a damn headache!

I cannot wait to welcome Dennis into our family … of course, he’d have to ask me to marry him first but, if he did, I’d really give it some serious consideration.

Zoey will come home to us, it’s all going to work out