Friends Are Like Flowers

Friends are like flowers 

Each unique in their own way

Put them all together

What a wonderful bouquet

Author Unknown

I have blogged about my friends many times and I am lucky to have lots of really good friends. More than I can even try to discuss here but I thought I'd put together a bouquet of some of my friends from the different areas of my life. Please excuse the awful photo shop skills! 

Alana - Bridesmaid and friend I met at Uni

Jemma - Bridesmaid and friend I met at Uni

My Cousins - Michelle, Leanne and Erin

My Edinburgh Uni (teaching) friends - Laura, Pamela, Moyra and Paula
Suzanne is missing from this photo as I don't have a photo of her and she doesn't 'do' Facebook!

Alison - We met in my probationary year as a teacher and she
has a wee girl who is 5 months older than JC. 

Angela - We met at a Netmums meet up. She has a wee boy who is
3 months younger than JC. 

Fee - She joined the band to cover my Maternity leave but we became
great friends in the process. She is due a baby in July and when she's ready
we will be setting up a duo and picking up the mics again!

Lynsey - We work together and she is the social leader of our staffroom!

Liska - We have children of a similar age, we both blog,
both trying to lose weight and have countless other things in common.
She blogs at newmumonline

This post was written as part of a writing prompt by Nickie at Typecast to raise awareness of the CLIC Sargent 'Yummy Mummy' campaign. I hope to get together with some of my friends in March to have a fundraising night for CLIC Sargent as I feel that it is such a wonderful charity. 

It's Not All About The Blood

As part of raising awareness of CLIC Sargent's Do Something Yummy campaign, I am taking part in a writing link up with prompts from Nickie at Typecast.

The prompt this week is: What does family mean to me?

Up until my twenties I was an only child. I lived with my mum and dad who had had their share of marital disputes but were still together. When they divorced when I was 21 I think it's safe to say that it was a shock to everyone, including them. I had lived a sheltered, close knit family life. I think that divorce is difficult at any age but at 21 I was set in my ways. I had never imagined that my family dynamics would change.

My Dad moved abroad to Czech Republic and he has since remarried and had another child. My little brother Daniel is 3 weeks older than JC.

Danny

My Mum remarried and I gained 2 step sibings, Kate (21 yrs) and Shaun (18 yrs).

Kate 

Shaun

These weren't the only changes. The ripple in the pond of divorce touches everyone in a family so there was disruption among the grandparents, extended family and close friends.

I went on to make my own family too. I got married and gained in-laws and then went on to have JC.


So in a nutshell, family means more than blood to me.

I have learned that the value of family lies in being there for each other regardless of blood ties. It's about being patient and recognising that we are all different and that nobody is perfect. It's about celebrating the good and accepting the bad bits. It's a living organism that is dynamic and ever changing.

It really wasn't until I had my own child that I understood a mother's love - which I wrote about here.

I love my family, warts and all. It's not always easy but I am blessed to have each and everyone of them enriching my life.

What Your Children Mean To You

Nickie at Typecast is trying to raise awareness of a charity called CLIC Sargent. They are a charity working all over the UK to support children with cancer and their families. They are running a Yummy Mummy campaign and Nickie is supporting them by hosting a writing linky to help raise awareness. I have decided to take part as I think they are such a wonderful charity. The writing prompt this week is: What Your Children Mean To You, here is my attempt.

I was always career driven. Obsessed even. I liked to feel like I was striving further and higher than anybody else. In hindsight, I was probably very annoying. I married my high school sweetheart when we turned 26 after 10 years of being together. Before the wedding I was adamant that I wasn't planning on starting a family for at least a few years. Maybe when I was nearer to 30. I love travelling and thought that having a child would drastically alter my lifestyle and that I would take exception to this.

A week after the wedding, when we were having dinner, I just blurted out 'I think I want to have a baby'. I don't know where this came from because it had never crossed my mind before. I was even more surprised when my hubby, who honestly would admit that he was not the most mature of men at the time, said 'me too'. I was flabbergasted. Although it was a split second decision it took a year for me to fall pregnant so we had plenty of time to get used to the idea.

I always tear up when I think about it. The moment I held him in my arms for the first time. I don't even know how to put the feeling into words. It was like a rush of love and devotion mixed with fear and  uncertainty. I didn't cry at the time. I couldn't stop smiling. Here was the baby that we had waited to meet for 9 months but wanted for longer. He was beautiful. I didn't sleep the first night in hospital. I just watched him sleep. I couldn't take my eyes off him. His peaceful face, full of innocence, was a blank canvas for which the world would in time make it's mark upon but in that moment he was mine, a pure soul.

So to answer the question of what he means to me. He means everything. The thoughts of career, travel, music and the life I had before have faded. I no longer think about what was or what would have been had I not decided to have children. I only think of how much richer my life is with him in it.




I think about the challenges we might face in the future and his health is always one of my biggest fears. I cannot begin to imagine how devastating it must be for a parent to have their child diagnosed with cancer. I think that charities such as CLIC Sargent are doing amazing work to support families going through this. We lost a child in our school last year to cancer, a primary 1. We are working on ideas for a memorial for her in our school garden, something with beautiful flowers as she loved nature and like flowers, she brightened up the world around her.