HAVE YOURSELF A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS.....

Dear Friends.....this will be my last blog for the year, as it's time to prepare for the journey south to be with our family at this special time.

What a memorable year it's been.....One never knows what's round the next corner just waiting to come alongside!   You have to take it in your stride, the happy with the sad, the good with the bad....never let it get you down.....(# sounds like something out of a song I once knew!)

Please try to enjoy all that this time of year has to offer.....It will mean different things to different people.... (# sounds like something out of a song I once knew)... but the common denominator, the most important thing of all is to try to have love and compassion in your heart.   We can go a long way on that!

Thank you for welcoming me to your blogging world.  I've been amazed at just what is out there to read... to enjoy....to learn...and to experience through other people's eyes.... (# I don't think that's a song title I once knew.... but perhaps it should be!)

I'll finish with a few lyrics from a song that I know I once knew......

How many seas must a white dove sail

Before she sleeps in the sand?........

The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind

The answer is blowin' in the wind 

(thank you Bob Dylan for those beautiful lyrics)

And to all of you.....Merry Christmas!

 

 

AS TIME GOES BY .......

A few days ago we celebrated another wedding anniversary.  It was a happy day....we didn't do anything special though because we were both busy with prior engagements..... but I was happy to know that the boy had not forgotten, as very early that morning....even before the birds had started their morning chatter....he had touched my face gently and whispered the words "Happy Anniversary"..... not knowing that I was awake.

We were married 48 years ago....and yet it doesn't seem that long.  The two of us not knowing what was ahead, but trusting in each other that we could make this journey together.  What did we know of life.... or of each other for that matter.  We just knew that we wanted to be together

How young we look in this photo....newly married and about to leave for the reception.... my husband somewhat nervous about the speech he knew he had to make....in front of  people,  some of whom he had never seen in his life before.....Oh the joy....and the terror!

                                                           

Almost ready to leave the reception...(me in my going away outfit which was the tradition for the times.)
I had made this outfit myself....a softly flared skirt and a three quarter sleeved jacket with boat neckline collar finished with a soft bow.... and the fabric was a beautiful sea green paper silk which I had bought in Thailand just months before. The headpiece was draped with tendrils of lily of the valley echoing the colour of the fabric, and those were my wedding shoes (white pearlescent leather).... and soft suede gloves .  It all seemed so important at the time.....

               Now lets move on a few years......                

 

And here we are celebrating our 25th anniversary with our beautiful daughters

Our girls eventually moved away to the bright lights, big city, to follow their careers....marry.....and have a family of their own....

And there we were again....back where we started....just the two of us.

What wonderful years they have been and what memories of those times.....
Yes... there have been disappointments....yes....there has been grief and pain with the deaths of much loved parents and a younger sister....but the joys far outweighed the sadness.

He tried to leave me....three times.....but the doctors brought him back... a little worse for wear....but he still had things to do on earth....obviously.   And so...as time goes by....another year comes and goes... and we are still learning about each other. The memory is failing....but not the sense of humour.

 How lucky we have been so far on this journey of a lifetime, happy in each other's company....making no demands of each other....just enjoying our time.... together