At the start of 2016, inspired by a friend, I started a daily gratitude challenge – posting one thing that I was thankful for each day on Instagram. I enjoyed it so much that when I reached the end of that year, I carried on and have kept going ever since. Finding one little thing to be thankful for each day has now become part of my daily routine and I’ve loved seeing friends joining in along the way too.
Finding little things to be grateful for isn’t always easy, especially when living through scary and uncertain times. I have found though that trying to find something, however small and trivial, to be grateful for has helped me through some of the hardest days of my life.
My eldest daughter Jessica, who died in April 2018, was an inspiration to me throughout her short life. She had so much strength and such a wonderful zest for life. Her godmother described her once as a “joy carrier” and it was the perfect description for her. She was a little ray of sunshine, full of smiles and gave joy to all who knew her. I am, and will always be, grateful to be her mummy. She taught me to enjoy the little moments and to make the most of everyday because tomorrow is never promised. And even though having to live life without Jessica is by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do, I will continue to look for those little things to be thankful for, and keep going with this challenge in honour of my beautiful brave girl.
Here are my grateful moments from the past week:
Day 292 – I am grateful for finding my rehearsal bag from the concert we were rehearsing when Jessica died. In it were these drawings and a cut out of Jessica’s hands done the last Sunday that Jessica was at church, just a few days before she died. Something to treasure.
Day 293 – I am grateful for beautiful autumn colours.
Day 294 – I am grateful that the raspberry bushes are still providing us with a few raspberries here and there.
Day 295 – I am grateful for paint and time to get creative decorating a wooden box for Sophie to keep her treasures in, ready to give her next week for her birthday.
Day 296 – I am grateful for Timehop bringing me photos of Jessica and her beautiful smile nearly every day and reminding me of happy family days out.
Day 297 – I am grateful for Sophie’s excitement over a non-uniform day at school and getting to bring in sweets for her classmates as it’s her birthday during half-term.
Day 298 – I am grateful for a fun start to half-term.
Some lovely memories popping up for you this week. Hope Sophie had a lovely birthday.
Thank you, she had a lovely day.
Time hop can be bitter sweet.
the hands are a great reminder.
Love the treasure box and totally agree the autumn colours are amazing
Timehop can be very bittersweet but it is lovely to have photos of Jessica popping up in it.
Aww! How lovely to find something that Jessica made in your rehearsal bag.
That box for Sophie is such a lovely idea.
Fab photos x
Thank you Kim, it was such a special thing to find.
What a lovely find in your rehearsal bag, hope the cut outs of her hands, brought you comfort
It was such a special thing to find.
Oh Louise, those cut out hands must be so very precious, what a wonderful discovery #366
Thank you Mary, they were such a special find.
Lovely memories and glad you managed to find the bag.
Hope Sophie had a lovely birthday!
Nothing beats a non-uniform day when you are at school – Seb and Eliza had one too
Sophie loved being able to go in wearing her favourite dress 🙂
Beautiful memories of Jessica! How lovely that you found the bag. Love Sophie’s treasure box, very pretty. The colours of autumn are always a fabulous sight.
It was such a special thing to find.
What a fabulous find and those pictures and cut outs are something to treasure x
Sophie’s dress is gorgeous, I love bold prints and colours together! Hope she had a lovely birthday over half term! That is an awesome picture of you all, glad you had a good start to the half term, getting out and about and enjoying the slightly nicer weather! Sim x
Thanks Sim. She had a lovely birthday and it was nice to be able to get out and about over half-term.
I didn’t realise raspberries could still bear fruit so late! Hope Sophie had a lovely half term birthday #project366
Neither did I! Ours are still producing fruit now!
Hope you had a lovely half term and Sophie had a great Birthday. Her box is lovely what a great idea for a gift.
Thank you Clare. She was so pleased with her box 🙂
How wonderful having homegrown raspberries, we enjoy them but they are quite expensive in the supermarket and you never get many. I went for a walk the other day and was admiring the autumn colours too, they really are quite beautiful aren’t they, so pleased you found some more artwork to treasure x
Ours were in the garden when we moved in and we’ve certainly made the most of them. I’m amazed that they’re still bearing fruit this late in the year.
Awww such a lovely find – definitely something to treasure. The Timehop photo is beautiful – Jessica had such an amazing smile. Lovely to look back at the little moments and really treasure them with the gift of hindsight. Happy birthday to Sophie too. Another beautiful smile and I love her dress 🙂
Thank you – it was so special to find those little pieces of artwork.
So sweet to have such treasures of Jessica with you. That tree is lovely. I’ve yet to try raspberries. Loving the treasure box! Jessica looks lovely. You all look so adorable on the swing together
Thank you, it was fun joining in on the swing with the children.