The end of another year

Grace and Emily joined us from England

No matter how good or bad the year has been, I have always liked New Year's Eve. I like it because it has always been a milestone for me. A day to remember to be grateful for all the good things that have happened over the past year, and to start putting the bad things in the past.

Despite some recent sad events, on the whole this year has been kinder to our family than 2012 was. I lost my poor Dad of course, but at least now he is free from any suffering, and we had enough time together to collect some beautiful memories which will stay with me forever. I still talk to him every day...and most of the time I can hear the advice he gives me back!

Also on the plus side, we found the new home which we were so desperate for a year ago, and we all feel very settled here. Having been in temporary accommodation this time last year, we were all able to appreciate having a proper home again for Christmas.

We had a lovely holiday in Cyprus this autumn and of course were joined by our new family members, Grace and Emily the skinny pigs. Skinny pigs are hairless guinea pigs...and these have certainly made themselves at home in our family.

There have been ups and downs of course, but what has remained constant throughout the year is the feeling of being surrounded by genuine friendship. Without our friends, our family would quite literally have been lost.

And with only a few hours left of the year I can't think of any better way to end this post than to say thank you from our family to all our friends, old and new - and from all over the world, who have stuck with us through everything.
Thank you to all of you for your support and love over this past year. I hope that 2014 brings good health, happiness and a few pleasant surprises to us all. Happy New Year!

This Too Shall Pass

I said a couple of posts ago that this was one of my favourite weeks of the year. With the rush of Christmas over, I have usually found that the week leading up to New Year is a time for clearing out stuff we don't need and focussing on plans for the year ahead. Of course you can argue that 1st January is a date like any other, (which of course it is) but I still like the symbolism of using the new year to motivate a fresh start in lots of senses.

Despite that however, I received some bad news last night which made a big dent in the positive feeling I'd been holding on to.

After not much sleep I woke up to be reminded of the phrase "this too shall pass."  These words have been said to me several times in the past and this morning they came to mind, so I looked it up to see where the phrase originated. Apparently the phrase comes from the Persian sufi poets. These days many Jewish people apparently wear a ring with these words engraved inside.

So, at just after eight in the morning, another day is beginning. The sun will rise (eventually) and then it will set again. Niko has just climbed into bed with me and Luca is at the bedroom door already telling me a list of things his brother has done wrong.  The point is, no matter what challenges exist right now, this day will pass just like every other day has passed before it. It will be a tough day for some people, a happy day for others, and a normal one for most. But whatever kind of day it is, it will pass.

No matter how positive we try to be, there are some things that are simply out of our control. Often it's hard to understand why those painful things had to happen at all. But they happen to each and every one of us. I don't know many people who aren't struggling with something or another. So on those days, I guess the trick is to believe that this feeling, however hard it feels, is only temporary, as all the others in the past have been.

Better things are inevitably ahead, and in the wait for those things to appear, all we can do is to try and stay strong - reminding ourselves that indeed - "this too shall pass." Love to you all.

Back home again

Just back this evening from the 1200km round trip up north to see my mother and other aunts and cousins. It's always a tiring trip, but at least this time the roads were good (I am probably the only person in Finland who is glad there is no snow here right now) so the drive was much easier than it has been sometimes.

It was lovely to be greeted by the children when I got home. Minttu still refuses to take off the famenco shoes she got from Father Christmas and Niko and Luca want to know why the Christmas tree is still up if Father Christmas isn't coming again until next year. As far as they are concerned, if Christmas is over, then it's over.

Two days left of 2013, so enough time to look back on the highlights of the year and plan some good stuff for 2014.

I know many people have had a rough time in recent months...so to all of you I send a big New Year's hug...and much love and warmth. Let's hope things look up for all of us once the new year comes to us in a couple of days time.

Happy Christmas!

The blog has been on a bit of a break over the last few weeks, but I wanted to come back to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

Yesterday evening we had some friends over for Boxing Day evening, and it occurred to me as I looked round the room, that just over two years ago I didn't know any of these people - and now each one of them feels like family.

This week, the one between Christmas and New Year, is one of my favourite weeks of the year. Every year I am lucky enough to get a new journal for Christmas which I then start writing on January 1st. In the few days leading up to the new year and once the rush of Christmas is over, I love reflecting on the year gone by and looking forward to the new one.

This time last year our family was in a very different situation. We had faced a lot of loss, we all felt  apprehensive about what was ahead, Dad was still very ill, we needed to find a new home and we had all sorts of challenges to overcome. A year later though and we are smiling again. This has been the first Christmas in our new house and we have been lucky to have a stream of visitors all week.

We've eaten both Finnish and English Christmas dinners, played plenty of board games, laughed a lot and started making plans for the year ahead. All in all it's been a happy, peaceful Christmas surrounded by genuine friends...and who can ask for more than that?

Each year brings its own challenges, but each year also brings lots of good things, as I was reminded yesterday evening when I thought about all the people I was fortunate enough to be sharing Christmas with.

I am back in the mood for writing again now, so I will be back soon, but in the meantime I am off to visit my mother in the north of Finland this afternoon....so I wish you a very happy belated Christmas and look forward to writing again soon. Take care....