Category: In My World
Silent Sunday
New Beginnings
As the year 2019 begins, my family is happy, which is all that I have wished for.
This time last year though, I had a different story to tell, although it wasn’t a situation I wished to talk about at the time. On the day of my grandson’s first birthday in July, my daughter-in-law ceremoniously decided she was leaving, moving one-thousand kilometres away, to live with her parents. My son had two choices – stay here and lose his son, or follow his wife, which was really no choice at all. Obviously, he left too.
For the next six months, I didn’t see my grandson. My son, however, couldn’t cope with being away from his family. He was torn between his birth family, and the one he had created. So in desperation, he tried living and working here during the week, and flying home to his other family for the weekend.
It was a massive strain on him. He was miserable. And I knew there were problems in his marriage.
As Christmas approached, I felt absolutely no enthusiasm. I felt my youngest son’s pain, and at times I felt as if my heart was bleeding for him. Consequentially, I didn’t buy any Christmas gifts, I gave my family money and asked them to spend it as they pleased.
The Christmas tree looked so bare without the usual array of gifts, but when my family arrived that situation changed as brightly packaged gifts began to mount beneath the tree.
During the afternoon, we all went outside for a photo session. My heart wasn’t in it though, my son would be missing from the photos. It would be a permanent reminder of the unfortunate split in our family.
At one point, my eldest daughter and her husband handed each family member an envelope, instructing us to open our envelopes together. I imagined I would read my card later, once I had gone inside and had put my reading glasses on. But that all changed when I took out the card, which read –
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
jingle all the way …
Oh what fun
It is to say,
A baby is on the way!
Due to arrive
August 2018.
I was going to be a Nana again!
Fast forward to Christmas 2018 – My youngest son is home again. His ex had chosen another significant day to ceremoniously (again!!) announce the end of their marriage on their third wedding anniversary. But this year, he’s smiling again.
My boy is back.
My family are all friendly with one another again, just like they used to be (before the x joined the family).
And most importantly, my grandson was here to help his four-month-old baby cousin, Aurora Ebony, celebrate her first Christmas. 🙂
I think the photos speak louder than any words I could choose.
And in 2019, we have two weddings to look forward to! My eldest son is to be married in March, followed by my youngest daughter who will be married in April. ❤
A year ago, I couldn’t write about my life, or my family. This year, we have everything to celebrate!
I wanted to share this brief version of the story of my 2018 to let anyone who is suffering know that nothing stays the same. Change is inevitable. And there is always hope for a better future.
For 2019, I wish everyone a year of happiness, a year of joy, good health and prosperity. A year where even if your life isn’t going completely to plan, know that there is always hope for a brighter future. xx
The Year I Didn’t Blog
I knew I hadn’t added a new post for quite a while, but nearly a whole year?
With nothing prepared, I thought I’d show you some new additions to the garden – two baby kookaburras who are filled with a contrasting mixture of adventure and hesitation as they explore their new surroundings.
When you’ve been feeding and taking photos of birds as long as I have, it’s easy enough to read their expressions. A head tilted in curiosity is easy body-language for anyone to understand though.
Now he’s wondering if he should be concerned by my clicking camera!
Here are the two babies together, looking as cute as can be with their pigeon toed feet and perfect, fluffy feathers.
This photo clearly shows the detail in their darker, back feathers. I think they’re gorgeous!
As you can see from the water clinging to the glass fence – also a new addition to the garden since I last added a post here – we’ve had some summer rain, which has cooled the earth down beautifully. We’ve even felt a few cool breezes in the morning air lately – a sign of an early winter approaching? I do hope so! Our summer heat is so intense, so by February I’m always begging winter to arrive early.
Here’s one advantage to summer – we don’t see skies quite as brilliant as this during the winter. Look at those cloud colours and formations – magical!
During 2017, my main focus was on family, home and university study, leaving little, if any, time for anything else (my lack of blogging is proof of that!) I never had a moment to feel bored throughout “the year I didn’t blog” and while I will talk about some of the events that took place during my absence, there are some things too private to talk about and best left where they belong – in the past.
Wherever my blogging friends are around the world, I wish you all the very best of everything your heart desires during 2018!
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Making time for writing.
For those of you who haven’t heard what I’ve been up to this year, there is a logical explanation as to why I haven’t added any new posts to In My World for nearly three months.
Late last year I began an online course through the University of Tasmania, a Diploma of Family History, which whetted my appetite for writing to such an extent that I searched university websites for something – anything – where I could formally learn more about the art of writing.
As it turns out, a local university offers an online Associate Degree in Creative Writing, just what I wanted, but there was a catch – I had to have completed high school before they would allow me to enrol, which I hadn’t done. But an alternative to returning to high school was offered, a short course which, if I passed, would guarantee my enrollment in the associate degree.
I couldn’t sign up quick enough! And after having successfully completed the preliminary course by June, with three distinctions and one high distinction, I am now tackling my third unit in the associate degree.
An assignment is due tomorrow, which needs my immediate attention, but isn’t it ridiculous not to have a regular writing routine when studying writing? I don’t know how successful I will be in finding time to add more regular posts to my blog, and I can’t make promises to regularly visit my friends’ blogs either, but I can try.
Only time will tell if I can succeed in arranging my time management skills to this extent. Hopefully, I can.
In My World 