Excitement

It is going to be the start of the week tomorrow, and I am now just starting to get excited. On Friday I will leave England to join my son and his wife and sons, in Perth Australia, for a two week visit. He married his second wife almost six years ago, and had their reception on our front lawn with a huge marquee. It was in June, and the evening was utterly magical. The happiness abounded and everyone was there including his dad, my first husband. They had a superb holiday in the tropics, and on their return told us that they were already expecting a child.. Of course I was over the moon and happy for them, and his son from his first marriage looked forward to having a sibling after such a long time as an only child. Baby Griffin was born in the January, and by the Spring of that year, all my darlings were settling in in Australia* I had thought that until baby was at least five years old he would know me as a granny and able to babysit like I had done for all my other grandchildren. But that was not to be, and although it broke my heart,just as it did when Gabriella took her husband and son to Canada, this was his road and I had to support it. Saying its only a days' travel was easily reassuring, but the cost of the fares would be high and so not on my agenda for a long time- had to save up!!. I am happy to say that Dan made a great success of his life in Australia and is happily soaring high in his chosen profession, whilst his wife has been on maternity leave and will return to her high powered job in February this year. They live outside Perth, not far from the sea, and I am going to be utterly charmed with their way of life I am sure. I love the fact that all my kids have taken the flag and run harder, faster and further than their father and I , ever did. And that's what should happen, each generation doing better and better! The only sad thing I have seen in my family,is that there is only one that feels faith in religion ... I gave them the basics, and they must do as they wish with that knowledge. So in less than 6 days I shall be catching the plane and stopping off at Dubai, before arriving in Perth on Saturday 24th. I shall be travelling alone, as my husband has not wished to renew his passport and will stay behind to care for the dogs and the house. It is sad, because once he is on holiday, he is such great company, but again, these are his wishes, and at least I am able to go. This year will be busy as I shall also see Gaby in Canada in June, another great fortnight in store for me again. Tinged with a bit of sadness because her sixteen year old has left home and is not in touch with his parents at all. Such heartbreak he has wrought with the use of the drugs, and all we can do again, is pray he comes home one day , before he drifts into further waters which might not let him come back. All a worry, but as I have said to myself so many times, we all have different roads to travel, if you can manage to travel alongside your kids you are lucky* It promises to be a cold week, so I am in a quandry what exactly to wear to go away.. I think I shall leave my heavy overcoat in the car, and get it to put on, when John comes to collect me at the end of the holiday-that should be alright. Going to Mass today, I was at the back with little ones making a huge noise so it was hard to hear the sermon, but I also lit candles for my grandson's safe return which made me cry less.. Faith is a hard thing to find and if you are lucky it will help in so many ways to overcome all sorts of hardships and difficulties. The best thing I ever did for both my parents was making sure that they had the Last Sacrament, which gave them both a deep feeling of comfort in their last hours. I hope that one day I might be able to be just as sure as they were, that they would meet again in the next life. My mother was a convert and she got my dad to understand his own religion at a much deeper level, from all her questions, he had to find the answers and in so doing, discovered stronger feelings for his faith. I have seen from many blogs, that people have not been as lucky as I was, having parents that both loved me and my brother without question. They made us feel that we could succeed at anything we really wanted to, and that helped us a long way towards becoming confident people. When I go to Australia, I will be able to see how their love in me, and that which I passed on to my children, have helped them all to reap the best possible lives they could have. Daniel took a big leap of faith leaving England where he was very appreciated in his high powered job as a 'Creative Director', to start looking for work in a foreign land. Making such a move was a big step for him, and by golly did he prove himself in the first years by getting himself an excellent job which he has grown further and now is in charge of his team and into making films for tv. It is a couple of years since he visited with Griffin and stayed with me and joined his big son here. It was a smashing summer month and had loads of pictures to show how happy we all were.. I am sure that in a few days I will equal those numbers of pictures as I take them as records of another happy time with my family.. Can't wait!!