A Special Monday...

What a day!

Alan off school with the dreaded lurgy. Lots of green gunk coming down his nose (nice!!!) that I have spent most of the day rushing to wipe before he spreads it all over his face! He is feeling totally rubbish but despite this, is in good spirits. He really is a wee star!

Dishwasher repair man arrived at lunchtime, pulled out the machine, inspected the leaky hose, new one fitted and hooray it's working again
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Managed to get some work done in between nose wiping and great excitement as an order I placed last week with Amazon has started to arrive. 3 items arrived today with the main one due on Thursday. Not saying any more at the mo! ;-)))

So, not the most exciting of Mondays but a special one none the less. Today would have been D's mum's 77th birthday, and although she pops into my head at some point every single day, today I have allowed myself to imagine (as I do on her birthday every year) what we would have been up to today if she was still with us. Whatever we would have done I know, there would have been much silliness, much laughter and a gin or three involved!

If I were to try and describe just how amazing she was, I would be typing for days, so I will just say this. I know how extremely lucky I was to have a mum-in-law who welcomed me with open arms from the moment she met me. Never made me feel I was taking "her boy" away from her (which she could have easily done as D's dad died when he was 13 so it was just her and David in the house from that point on.)

She never interfered in our lives but was always there with support and advice if and when we needed it. And we did! Often! :-)) She became not only a second mother to me but my dearest friend. Honestly, we were like a couple of children when we got together. Always up to mischief and always having a laugh.

When Alan was born and times were really difficult, she kept us sane. She didn't hesitate to learn how to feed him when he was still being fed by nasogastric tube and eagerly learned how to do all his physiotherapy exercises with him, even sharing taking him to specialist nursery two days a week so I could go back to work part time.

But the best gift she gave me was a husband who, because of the way she raised him, does not see things in terms of a woman's role or a man's role. Her aim in life when David was young, was that should anything happen to her, he would be able to look after himself properly....so I have a husband who can not only iron and cook......he even cleans toilets!!!

Ten months before she died (suddenly and unexpectedly) she took David aside and told him that when she was no longer around, she wanted me to have her own mum's wedding and engagement ring. I was so touched by this gesture.

Sadly I didn't expect to have them in my care so soon after. They are treasured possessions and today, as always on her birthday, I gave them a little polish and remembered just how EXTRA special she was.

Thank you Mum L xxx