Once a fortnight i go to an important multi-agency meeting about domestic violence.
Sometimes the things we discuss are unpleasant and often there are difficult decisions to be made.
However, the people who attend never fail to make me laugh. Committed to the jobs they all do, we also manage to have a laugh in the middle of what is often a challenging meeting.
I love this little boy. He is growing so fast and I think me being away at the weekend kind of shocked him. He has been very cuddly since and keeps telling me how much he missed me when I was away. Gorgeous boy.
It has been a long journey to get here, both in terms of our emotional progress but also in terms of travelling time!
Today we left the hotel at 5am UK time and arrived back at about 6pm. Feeling shattered after an emotional weekend but time well spent together. As Mum said so eloquently ‘it’s good to have time’.
We arrived at Guernsey airport and The Mister and the kids were there to greet us. The Little Mister ran straight to me for a cuddle whilst The Little Miss ran across the concourse shouting ‘Mummyyyyyyy’ until she saw Grandpa walking next to me and she swerved to run to him first for a cuddle.
She’s not daft. It always pays to keep Grandpa sweet!
Today marks the three year anniversary of Mum leaving us. The picture above was taken today. Dad is swimming and my sister is in the very far distance on the rock.
It is so very strange to be here in Greece for the anniversary. I feel that it has been an important, yet such an emotional journey for all of us. I guess we will never come back here again so to have visited the places she went and to do so with Dad and Louise seems to have been very appropriate.
Today we went to the beach on which she died. It is such a beautiful beach called Kalogria and one of the things that gives me huge comfort was knowing that she didn’t suffer and she left this beautiful paradise beach and went straight to heaven. What a way to go Mum!
So to my darling Mum. I miss you so very much. I wish you were still here. I am glad we had you for so long. A la perchoine xxxx
Today marks the three year anniversary of Mum leaving us.
Oh my darling Mum. I miss you so very much. I wish you were still here. I am glad we had you for so long. A la perchoine xxxx
Smiles despite this being one of the hardest trips we have done. Love these two funny faces though.
It has been a funny sort of day. The weather has been quite overcast and we went for a drive around the coast, stopping at some of the places that Mum and Dad had been to during the few days they had here before she died. We stopped at this lovely fishing village and had coffee in the same cafe they stopped at. It was particularly poignant as Dad filmed her saying ‘it is so nice to have time’. Little did we know.
We carried on around the coast to the most beautiful beach. Crystal clear waters and a long sandy beach. 
Mum had been photographed here so we stopped and took pictures.
Finally we drove past the medical centre they had taken her to and the little police station at which Dad had to complete all the paperwork. This is the bit I found really upsetting. Dad commented that he’d sat on the bench outside the police station and phoned me to try and find the details of the insurance people so we could arrange repatriation.
It made me cry to think of Dad sitting there all alone and trying to make arrangements.In a strange way I found this more upsetting than thinking about Mum. She was no longer there but Dad was trying to hold things together. That made me cry.
Our evening was spent playing cards, drinking cocktails and wine and eating a nice meal. It ended well. 
We had to get up at the horrific time of 3.30am to be checked in for the flight to Greece. We arrived, collected our (very nice BMW thank-you-very-much) hire car and made the drive to the resort.
On the way we stopped at the beach at which Mum died. Originally I wanted to wait until Sunday which is the anniversary of her death but I am kind of glad we stopped. I hadn’t prepared myself for going so early in the trip so in some ways it took the sting out of it a little bit. It meant I didnt have time to get too worked up! The beach was busy and the sea was choppy, both unlike the day three years ago according to Dad. We stopped and stood by the waters edge where I had a little cry thinking about Mum. My sister had already been to this beach with Dad when she came out to meet him after Mum died but this was my first time.
It is so hard to know what to say or think. I still forget she isn’t here at times. I still think ‘oh I must tell Mum about that’, or ‘I should go out for a walk with Mum’. I miss her smiles, cuddles, cooking and her care of us. I miss the time she spent with us loving us and helping us to grow. Coming back here is painful but it feels like the right thing to do. Somehow I needed to see these places. I needed to know where she was last and experience the beauty of this place.
Most of all this trip is time with Dad and my sister. We spent the evening eating, drinking wine and playing cards. Mum would have approved of all of these things and her absence is so painful at times.
Finally I fell into bed and slept the blissful sleep of a woman with no children to wake her up. Nine and half hours people. I barely no what to do with myself I feel so rested!! (How come I still feel shattered though?!)
I will do a more comprehensive blog post about our day today when I have a few more brain cells available. At the moment I am shattering and all grey matter is focusing on keeping me breathing I think.
This afternoon we spent a glorious few hours sunbathing, napping and swimming at this glorious beach. It is just at the bottom of the hotel so you walk through a tunnel to get there. It was absolutely gorgeous although the swell of the sea was very strong.
More tomorrow xxxx
Today I had the day of work. I cleaned the house and tidied up and generally tried to sort things out a bit. I also popped this lovely trough of flowers up to Mum’s grave.
Today my Dad, sister and I travelled to Gatwick airport and tomorrow we travel onwards to Greece.
It will be 3 years ago on Sunday that Mum very sadly died. I have never been to the place where she died and we made the decision to come back, just the three of us. I have very mixed feelings. I am looking forward to a few days away with my family but I feel really emotional about going to the beautiful beach on which Mum passed from earth to heaven.
Right now though I must go to bed as we have to be up at 4am! Night night!