Oct
21
2013
0

2013 Project365 (Day 294)

21 October 2013Today has been a really long day. The Mister and The Little Mister and I went to Jersey for the day with my Dad, sister and the kids and Auntie Cath.

We went to Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust for a few hours and had a lovely time, and we even managed to escape the worst of the rain. Here we all are sitting next to the statue of Gerald Durrell. Barnabas has his hands over his head as it had just started to rain!

We had such a nice time and it was so nice just to have a bit of time together. That comment makes me think of the very last thing Mum said to Dad on camera when they were in Greece. He asked her how she was finding the holiday and she said “It’s just nice to have time”. I wish we had so much more time and so many more years with her. I thought of her so often today because she would have really enjoyed the outing. I miss her so much.

So, I am trying to book nice things for us to do together. It seems to me that it is pretty important that don’t forget Mum, but instead we carry on doing family well to honour her. She would have approved.

Written by Anna Williams in: Family,Mum | Tags: , , , ,
Oct
20
2013
0

2013 Project365 (Day 293)

MBE!Today’s picture is my friend Dr Susan Wilson with her MBE which collected last week.

Sue established a charity called Tumaini who work with about 25,000 orphans out in Kagera in Tanzania.

Sue’s work for the charity is passionate and tireless and I am so delighted that she has been given this honour. It is wonderful news for her and thoroughly deserved!

Written by Anna Williams in: Guernsey | Tags: ,
Oct
19
2013
0

2013 Project365 (Day 292)

Best friendsThis afternoon The Little Mister and I went for a walk with my sister and her friend and all the kids.

The weather this morning had been raining and miserable so the kids were all togged up in suits and wellies. This is my nephew Barnabas and his best friend Jacob. They are such lovely friends and it is so sweet to see them together.

Apparently this is the only waterproof suit that currently fits Barnabas. I think he looks wonderful in it!

Written by Anna Williams in: Friends | Tags: ,
Oct
18
2013
0

2013 Project365 (Day 291)

18 October 2013This afternoon I had the chance to meet up for coffee with some of my friends and their babies. Our babies are just a few weeks apart in age but they are getting so big! I can’t believe that our wee little babies are now little characters with their own personalities!

Written by Anna Williams in: Baby,Friends | Tags: ,
Oct
17
2013
0

2013 Project365 (Day 290)

Sunny daysThe weather has been odd today, a bit grey and drizzly in parts but by this afternoon it was glorious sunshine and really quite warm.

I went to the beach with my sister and the kids and one of her friends and her kids. The picture I would like to put up is of the three older children running about the beach and splashing in the sea completely stark naked, but decency prevents me from doing so! They were having such a wonderful time it was hilarious!

The Little Mister spent some time crawling around and was totally covered in wet sand by the time we went home. He would also seem to have eaten quite a bit of it because he refused to eat anything tonight. This bodes badly for a good nights sleep for us all!

Written by Anna Williams in: Baby,Beach,Guernsey | Tags: , ,
Oct
16
2013
0

2013 Project365 (Day 289)

Paper piecesAt Mum’s funeral/Celebration service each person who attended was given a little slip of paper. They were asked to write their name, their relationship to Mum and their memory of her.

On Sunday Dad and I looked through some of these slips and we just read how much Mum was loved by so many people. It would seem that she was utterly consistent in the way she treated people, from those she met at important business dinners with Dad, to the woman who cleaned her school classroom. The cleaner had wrutten, in very poor English, what was one of the most moving tributes to Mum. It was so genuine and so heartfelt.

These little slips of paper are both wonderful and painful to read. Each is like a patchwork piece of Mum’s life, showing up one part of who she was, all of which combine to become a gloriously complete picture of her. We wanted to keep these memories for her grandchildren, something that they could look back on and try to piece together their own picture of their wonderful, kind and loving Grandma.

Written by Anna Williams in: Family | Tags: ,
Oct
15
2013
0

2013 Project365 (Day 288)

WalkI was feeling much better today so The Little Mister was feeling much better today so Edward and I met up with Oj for the day. We had a bit of a walk along the beach before meeting up with my sister and my niece.

It has been a lovely day with just a few drops of rain. The best thing though was spending time with my lovely friend. It’s amazing having friends who will give time when you need them most! Thankyou to all my friends who have supported us over the last few weeks. It’s meant so much and has been so amazing for us all.

I thought one photo of the Asian Babe was quite enough so today’s picture is of me, my sister and my grumpy niece!

Written by Anna Williams in: Family,Friends | Tags: ,
Oct
14
2013
0

2013 Project365 (Day 287)

Uncle OjIt would seem that the illness count has risen to somewhere closer to 30 family members down with the lurgy. I have felt really delicate for most of the day but quite a lot better than yesterday.

On Friday night I had an amazing surprise when two of my gorgeous and lovely friends appeared on my doorstep having flown over from the UK to be at Mum’s Celebration Service. It was wonderful to see them both and Oj has stayed on for a few days. He has been a complete star and has just trailed about with me and The Little Mister spending the day doing all the boring things that we needed to do!

So, here are two of my favourite boys. Can you believe that The Little Mister is 10 months old today? Time is just going so fast!!

Written by Anna Williams in: Baby,Friends | Tags:
Oct
13
2013
0

2013 Project365 (Day 286)

Bugs galore!Well as if the weekend hasn’t been tricky enough it would seem that about 25 members of our family have come down with a bug and have diarrhea and vomiting.

I was just watching Facebook all day seeing who else was adding themselves to the list of those who had succumbed.

So far The Mister, The Little Mister and I have avoided it too badly although I am feeling a bit delicate today and have a bad head and a funny tummy. My Dad, who is hardly ever poorly, went to bed for about four hours because he was feeling so rough. At his house this afternoon The Little Mister and I took a nap on the sofa and eventually I popped him on a cushion on the floor to have a sleep.

I am just praying it doesn’t strike in the night as The Mister is working nights. Truly an unpleasant end to a difficult weekend!

Written by Anna Williams in: Baby,Family | Tags:
Oct
12
2013
1

2013 Project365 (Day 285)

Mum's funeralToday has been a funny sort of day. This afternoon we had a Service of Celebration for my Mum at the church she attended for many years.

We reckon that there was about 400 people there and it was just wonderful. My Dad held up well and my sister and I managed to get up and say something without completely losing the plot.

My Mum was amazing and so many people wanted to come and pay their respects and share in the celebration for her life. The service was about Mum and Jesus, but the service also focussed on Mum’s work with Compassion UK which is a Christian Child Sponsorship Programme. Mum and Dad were both Compassion Advocates and visited several of their children in Africa. It is hoped that through Compassion a fund will be established which will be used to fund an educational programme in Burkina Faso. We are determined that Mum’s life, and premature death will not be in vain and that many children will benefit from her.

I have to admit that our children were perfectly distracting throughout the service, climbing up on the stage and entertaining us all. They helped to prevent us from being overwhelmingly sad. They are today’s picture with the beautiful flowers in the background.

So, to finish, here is pretty much my entire eulogy, minus a little but where I adlibbed!

“Louise and I wrote these little tributes to Mum quite independently, and so much of it overlapped. I am not sure it is going to be possible in just a few minutes to explain how much I am going to miss my Mum.

The reality is that Mum was the glue that held our family together. She did so much that was unseen and yet she just got on and did it. Louise and I knew that we could always turn up for lunch with our children in tow and she would find time and space for us, even when we all trashed her house! Whether life was going well or whether it was proving challenging the first person I wanted to talk to was Mum.

When I finally achieved my dream of becoming a Mum myself my Mum was standing outside the delivery suite waiting to meet her new grandson. Her delight and pleasure in him was absolute and I think one of the hardest things is that she isn’t going to be around for his first birthday or to see him grow up. He will never know firsthand just how amazing she was or how much she loved him and his cousins.

The greatest thing that Mum did for me and my sister was that she provided us with unconditional love and acceptance. That’s not to say that she agreed with everything we did and said, far from it (!) but she would challenge, love and support us. We had an amazing childhood and I know she was proud of us and of Dad and we will miss her so very much.

The things I will miss most are many and varied; playing Scrabble with her, going walking with her and Edward, her roast dinners, shopping with her, lunches at her house and most of all I will just miss knowing that she is there. It is only now that I realise the things that we didn’t learn from her in time; how to make Guernsey Gache and Guernsey biscuits, how to make her loganberry jam and lots of other things – to be honest most of them are food related as usual!

I am so very proud to be her daughter. She influenced so many people throughout her lifetime and yet she would have said that she wasn’t anything special. On the contrary, she was VERY special and her influence on our lives is immeasurable.

Mum was very clear in knowing that her destiny was to be with Jesus, we just wish that she did not have to go quite so soon. I know that myself, Dad, Louise and our families will be OK. We are just not sure what that will look like without Mum who was the very centre of our lives.

Louise is right, Mum has left us a legacy of love, but that is also entwined with a legacy of family. That still goes on and that is why we will be OK.”

Written by Anna Williams in: Family | Tags: , ,

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