Christmas! Not what we had expected! But we will be together!

Well Christmas day has been and gone and we are yet to have Christmas dinner yet. The food was cooked and the salads prepared. But then the phone rings and all plans are cancelled.

It was 7am on Christmas morning, we had not even been out to check that the presents had survived the children waking 2 hours before us ( we have a strict rule that they are allowed to have their Santa stocking but no presents til everyone is awake) luckily Miss 12 had held down the fort and all was still intact.

That’s when the phone rang. It was my mother telling me that they would not be over until much later as she and her father had to head into the hospital, our Nanna was not doing well. Not knowing how serious it would become we went about our day, I continued to make food and get things ready and we of course opened presents and played games with the kids and enjoyed our morning.

Then the phone rang again. It was not good news. Our Nanna had taken a turn and was not expected to last the day. This was a very big surprise for us. She had been unwell and had been taken to hospital around 24 hours before that, but the news the Christmas eve had been that she was responding well to her medication and that she should be fine. My first response in any situation is to get organised. So that what I did. I called everyone that needed to be informed and I organised food for all my little munchkins before I raced out the door to the hospital.

The next two days were spent going backwards and forwards to the hospital while my partner stayed at home with the children. We took turns sitting with Nanna so that she wouldn’t be alone, I spent most of Christmas Day and all day Boxing Day at the hospital. Then spent my evening explaining to my children why I had been gone, something they are not used to as I am always with them.

The following day my partner had to leave for work again. My brother stepped up and offered to head up and take my place so I could be with my children. So that morning I headed into the hospital to drop of my Granddad so my mum could head home for some sleep. Within an hour of us leaving, she had passed. I honestly think she must have been waiting to be alone with just Granddad.

So that brings us to today. Chritmas is over, but doesn’t feel like it actually happened. New Years is coming and we have decided that instead of a funeral we are going to have a party. We are going to roll Christmas, New Years and a celebration of Nannas life all into one. She absolutely did not want her family all sitting around and being sad.

We are going to spend the day celebrating her life and celebrating the times we had. It will also be a great time to celebrate family as we have not all been together for Christmas in a very long time. It has been many many years since we all sat down to a meal together with all the partners and children in one place. She has brought us together.

Despite the craziness of the last few days, all my children have handled it rather well. They all really enjoyed Christmas morning and actually got a second run of gift openings last night when Nanna and Greatgranddad brought over their gifts for the children.

I have missed several posts over the last few days and will try to catch up with them in the next few days.
After we climb this last hurdle for 2017, I look forward to what 2018 has in store for me and my family. I am going to set myself some goals and use Steemit as a tool to remain accountable.

I hope to share a lot more with you all in the new year.

Thanks for reading.
@mumofmany