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. 

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.