I wasn’t sure I was going to manage to get a family photo for November. It’s been a busy month with hubby working away on events, Sophie and Thomas having bouts of being unwell with coughs, colds and an ear infection and me doing my usual juggling a few too many balls and wishing there were a few more hours in the day! But we managed to grab a few family snaps in a brief quiet moment towards the end of the month.
Making the most of the little moments in amongst the busyness is important to us. One of our traditions over the last year has been to start the day with a few minutes snuggling together on the sofa, reading the day’s poem from ‘I Am The Seed That Grew The Tree’. Mornings can be so hectic, especially on a school day when we’re rushing to get out the door on time, but it makes such a difference having those few moments of quality time together before the rush of the day starts.
Of course, the busyness isn’t going to ease off for a little while just yet with the start of the festive season upon us. I love Christmas in many ways, but it does come with a rollercoaster of emotions – the stress of trying to prepare whilst juggling all the events that happen at this time of year, plus the ever-present undercurrent of sadness that we live with because Jessica isn’t here to share it with us. And just as it’s important to have those quality moments with Sophie and Thomas, it’s also important to make time for Jessica and for our grief at this time of year. To stop and focus, if only for a few moments, on our beautiful big girl, on our beautiful memories and on the love that will always live on.
And even though our family snaps are rushed ones, It’s important that Jessica is always a part of them too. That we come together as a family of five and capture a moment, in all its messy imperfection – the graininess, the silly faces, and the reminder that while family life isn’t quite as we would have wished it to be, there is always love surrounding us and holding us together and that sometimes we just need to stop and take a moment to focus on being together, just being us.
