Friday Focus 26/07/2024 – Birthday

It’s Thomas’s sixth birthday today and he’s been excitedly counting down the days. He had a lovely party last weekend in Grandma and Grandad’s garden and enjoyed celebrating with some of his friends. He also shares a birthday with his twin cousins who are fourteen today and it’s been lovely to visit them in Luxembourg this week and spend a couple of evenings together in the run-up to their birthdays.

 

 

For me, it’s been an emotional few days. I often find the end of the school year emotional. The end of Year 1 for Thomas – a school year that neither of his sisters were able to finish at school – plus all the emotions that came with our trip away. We took the ferry and drove to Luxembourg, which brought back some very strong memories of our last holiday with Jessica, which was the last time we went on a ferry, and our road trip around France when the girls were small, which was the last time we travelled by car in Europe. Thomas is also now the same age that Jessica was. Watching him and Sophie with their cousins this week, who are just a little older than Jessica would be now, has been beautiful but bittersweet. I’ve missed my big girl so very much this week and the grief bursts have been intense, but a rare dream visit helped give me a brief moment of connection with Jessica which was very much needed.

 

Thomas has had a fun week though and it’s been wonderful to see his excitement. I’m grateful for my beautiful cuddly baby boy, with his love of numbers and his joy at spending time with the people he loves.

 

 

What I’ve been grateful for this week:

 

 

• Day 201 – I am grateful that Thomas coped so well at the barbers when he had his hair cut this afternoon.

 

• Day 202 – I am grateful for a lovely birthday party for Thomas. Thank you so much to everyone who came and made it so much fun.

 

• Day 203 – I am grateful that Sophie has now done her Grade 3 tap exam and is looking forward to starting Grade 4 in September.

 

• Day 204 – I am grateful for Duolingo.

 

• Day 205 – I am grateful for a dream visit from Jessica last night where I got to give her a cuddle. I’ve had the most intense grief bursts over the last couple of days and longed for my big girl so much, but just to have that brief moment of connecting and holding her even if only in a dream has given me a moment of joy. Dream visits are so rare and I needed that cuddle so much. Thank you Jessica.

 

• Day 206 – I am grateful for fun feeding goats.

 

• Day 207 – I am grateful for a lovely couple of evenings with cousins.

 

 

 

Other things that have made me smile this week:

• Spending time with my mum and twin sister.

 

 

• Watching Sophie drive the tractor around Grandma and Grandad’s garden.

 

 

• Doing a couple of Adventure Lab trails around Luxembourg.

 

 

• Enjoying some water fun at the open air pool at Grevenmacher.

 

• Sophie’s delight at having a butterfly settle on her foot at the butterfly gardens.