uksue

Hi All, Just to wish everyone a better year than last year. I am sure things will slowly get better for us. Just kep living one day at a time.
Love Sue x

Hi friends,
Rays anniversary went well, the family party on the Sunday was lovely, we had all Rays favorite foods, and we had afternoon tea on the 13th and kept it upbeat for Julies birthday. Sam and I left white lilies and roses on the grave in the morning, and when I went back the next day the grave was covered with flowers from friends and family, it was such a comforting feeling to know so many people cared.
This last weekend I had arranged a reunion of the people who went on my Crete holiday at Easter. One lady was ill, but 11 of us managed to get together and had a wonderful time at my friends B&B; because we took over the hotel it was just like a house party and my friends worked so hard to make it lovely for everyone. The B&B is in the Yorkshire dales, and I took Sams old hiking boots and did the Ingleton waterfalls walk , a round trip of about 6 miles from the B&B, then on the Sunday did another ramble. I ached on Monday but the fresh air did us all good. I also noticed that many of the poeple looked so much better than they did at Easter – me probably included! As they say time heals.
Like Joyce I am always up for trying new things, so the latest is that my Sking friend and I are going to try Salsa lessons to get us fit!! (and I have two left feet!).
Darla, well done for gtting onto facebook, but you need a photo up now – as does Janet! And Janet, I will sponser you if you do that tandem parachute jump with your son!
Pauline, I hope you are doing well, and thank you for all the kind messages for Joyce and I.
Well just getting ready for Keep fit, if sking doesnt kill me the getting fit for it probably will!
Love to all,
Sue x

Hi everyone,
Back home after my holiday with my Mum. The rest did her good, although I am aware that she is much frailer than she was the last time we went away in December. Anyway, we were very lucky wih the weather, the sun shoe every day and it was unseasonably warm for this time of year for Northern Spain. In the south of Spain we heard about torrential rain and flooding which lasted several days, but we only had a thunderstorm one night. The weather does seem to be doing strange things around the world, it makes you wonder about the global warming?
Janet, congratulations on your sons school graduation – do your schools finish their school year at different times to us?
Darla, it really does make me realise we do all like in different worlds when you mention things like hitting deer! But you are right, we are getting better at coping with things, I think everyone feels the same – after what has happened to us, it is difficult to get really upset about things life throws at us, but it is still frustrating when practical things go wrong!
Glad you are finding your work interesting, Pauline, I always feel better when I am busy too.
Joyce, thinking about you in these next weeksx
Love to all
Sue

Hi All,

I hope you are all in a good place today.

Life has been pretty busy at the moment what with work, Sams new house and my Mum – by the way thanks for asking after her, she would be amazed that people all around the world care for her wellbeing! She is making a good recovery, a little slower than she was expecting, but nevertheless given her age she is doing brilliantlyand she is back at home under her own steam again now. I am planning to take her to Spain for a week at the end of this month to recouperate.

Work is still quite demoralising at the moment as my orders keep getting less and less and I don’t know what I can do to improve things. But I keep telling myself that i am lucky to have some income at least from the business as so many people are unemployed atthe moment.

Pauline, your last few days in Italy sound wonderful – how lovely that you are a part of such a wonderful way of life with such warm people. It must be a place where you feel Anthony close to you as he loved it so much. I imagine how much you miss when you are there, but it sounds as if the people there care for you deeply and that must be a comfort.

Darla, I am thinking of you at this time of year. I am dreading October. Just lately I have been thinking of Rays last few days a lot – I know it is part of the greaving process but it is so hard sometimes.

Janet how did your trip to your sister go? I hope it went well and you can use it as a springboard for more trips away. Another first ticked off the list!

How are you Joyce? It is hard with the autumn coming on isnt it? I am trying to fill my diary for the winter months with little things to look forward to until the spring – arranging visits to friends and little trips away, and inviting people over for meals and family days. Sometimes I plan too much but at least if I am busy it gives me less time to brood.

Anyway, everyone keep well and try to keep positive and I will do the same.

Lots of love to you all.

Sue

Hi All,

I have just been reading all the posts and it has been lovely catching up with everyone. I have been so busy these last few weeks I havent had time to breathe!

We found a wonderful house for Sam to buy just 5 minutes away from York hospital and we must have been to every bank in the area before she could get a mortgage – because she didnt start work until last week, the underwriters were rejecting her – in one bank they actually rejected her because she didnt have any loans so they said they didnt know if she would repay her mortgage! I mean how bad a risk is a doctor! Finally we found a lady who actually had the authority to use her common sense and she got a mortage through in two days for Sam so she is hoping to get her keys next week. However the whole house needs redecorating and new carpets – luckily she has a handy boyfriend and I suppose we will all roll our sleeves up and help out. But it has hit home now that she is really leaving home (but at least she is only 40 minutes drive away!).

My Mum has just come out of hospital after an op so I am planning to have here here for a few weeks to recouperate.
Also, the company I distribute for in Belgium has a new manager who is pushing for more sales in the UK – the last thing I can contemplate now is getting back on the road trailing round potential customers, I am trying to drum up some business on the phone but I am not doing so well.

I have managed to do some upkeep on my house, but I must admit it is all getting me a bit down at the moment – I feel a bit sorry for myself – I know I am lucky to have the support of family and friends but I am sure you will all understand when I say that it is not the same without that somene special to look after you?

Anyway, enough of that! I am glad to hear that you are contemplating a holiday Janet, I have found that it is helpful to have something to look forward to and plan, and I must say I have enjoyed all the holidays I have been on – the hard part is coming home again! So do take the plunge I am sure you will all enjoy it. I hope your sister is doing Ok too – that must be very hard for you to cope with. On our anniversary last year I made sure I had planned something with family – the same with fathers day – just plan a little outing somewhere or a visit to good friends ifyou can it really helps to keep busy.

Pauline I agree with you about the alcohol, it is so easy to have another glass once you open a bottle of wine on your own, now I try not to have a drink through the week, and look forward to one at the weekend, preferably with friends. I am glad also that you found some nice poeple to talk to, it is amazing who we connect with now isnt it? And who knows, B&B may be your next calling!!

Joyce, I had to laugh about your poor dogs escapade with the skunk, it sound so foreign to us, my images of skunks come mainly from cartoons, I had no idea it was so difficult to get the smell off in real life! I hope you are granted some nice weather before the autumn sets in – you haveit so hard there in the winter.

Darla, how is your shop doing? I am finding it very hard at the moment running my business – I used to use Ray and a sounding board when I had to make decisions and I really miss his advice.

Hi Karen, you arent intruding at all it is nice to hear from you!

The weather here in the north of Engand is a bit strange at the moment , the bast I can describe it as is grey! We had a good weekend a couple of weeks ago and me and my friend managed to paint all the decking and fences in the garden – it was absolutely exhausting but satisfactory when we had finished.

Thanks Darla, I too am sure that Ray will be with us – he wouldnt miss it for the world, we just have to remember that just because we can’t see him it doesn’t mean he isn’t with us.
Lots of love, Sue x

Hello Friends,
Thank you all for your good wishes for my holiday, we got home yesterday morning from Vegas so am a bit jet lagged, had a great time with Sam but not looking forward to the credit card bill coming in!
Las Vegas was not at all what we expected, the big hotels were really fantastic, I suppose there were some seedy places downtown but we kept away from them and had a great time. The two cirque de soleil shows we saw were amazing but at $90 a seat were pretty expensive. We also went to the Grand Canyon which was so impressive, but we kept well away from the edge of the Canyon – I couldn’t believe how close some people got to the edge for their pictures taking, one girl sat right on the edge and dangled her feet over!
It was also lovely to spend so much time with Sam – we did all the girly things, but the holiday was tinged with sadness as we both realised the only reason we were taking the holiday there was because Ray was no longer with us.
It was hard yesterday night after Sam and her boyfriend dropped me off home – it was very quiet and the house seemed very empty, I must admit being tired didnt help and I had a few tears before I took myself off to bed.
I know everyone is feeling sad too just now. You get more used to being on your own as time goes by, and it gets a little easier, but I have found that the tears are only just under the surface, and tend to pop out at the least thing, and quite frequently just lately – perhaps it is all part of the healing process? Darla, perhaps the bad memories are coming to you now for the same reason?
Pauline, I hope you are eating better and looking after yourself – try to build yourself up a little – Have you finalised your plans for the memorial for Anthony? Try to remember the things he did which made you smile on the 30th.
Patty, the best advise I can give you for Vegas is to take a good comfy pair of shoes! We walked for miles! The hotels are so big that the first time we tried to get out from our room onto the strip it took us 45 minutes and we had to ask for directions in the end! As for what to do there – we just wandered around the hotels, we stayed in Planet Hollywood which is quite central and has a shopping mall underneath it with some quite reasonable restaurants. (Also if you go to the information desk there they will give you some vouchers for shows and restaurants etc). The hotels not to be missed are the Bellagio for the fountains (you must do their Champagne brunch on Saturday or Sunday), the Paris , Caesars Palace, MGM for the lions, the Venetian and we went to see the dolphins and white tigers at the Mirage which were great. You must see at least one Cirque show, we did Mystere and Ka and both were amazing. There are quite a few half price ticket booths where you can get show tickets for that day. I couldnt really advise what to do at night as we were in bed by 10 most nights! But if you like a cocktail do get one from Fat Tuesdays – but dont be deceived – they are quite strong!
I am sure you will have a great time – I wish I was 40 again!
Joyce – we saw your wedding chapel! I was looking out for it as my hairdresser also got married there. We saw quite a few weddings while we were there and they were really beautiful. The temperature while we were there was about 108 – coming from wet England we had never experienced heat like that before.
The time with Sam was special, Janet, it gave us time to talk about Ray, Sam is missing her dad badly at the moment, as are Rays two other girls, and it does help to talk.
Sams graduation is at York University on Weds this week so I am trying to lose the extra pounds I put on during the holiday so I can get back into my “posh frock”. It will be a hard day for Sam but I am sure that Ray will be there for her in spirit.
Anyway, I must get back to reality now and get down to some work, although I have planned a holiday in September with my Mum – I dont know about you but it really helps me to have things to work towards and to look forward to – it helps you get through the days one at a time if you can plan for something.
My thoughts are with you all just now – we can do it together!
Love Sue x