The end of a crap year

2019 has been pretty bloody awful, culminating with Mum dying on Christmas Eve 10 minutes before we got to the hospital.  She'd been ill the entire year, with multiple hospital admissions, gradually - and then rapidly - getting worse and worse throughout the year.  Several times she took a turn for the worse and we all thought it was the end, only for her to pick up again.  It's been a real rollercoaster.  It's a blessed relief that she's now out of pain, her last few weeks were truly horrible, for her and for us.  

My beloved aunt Sylvia, Mum's younger sister with whom I spent a lot of time when I was in my teens and 20s, died in July after a short illness, we did see her in hospital 2 hours before she died.  I still miss her dreadfully.

Husband's health has been, and continues to be, a worry this year.  He's got an appointment for admission to the day surgery ward in mid January, so they can accurately measure his prostate - they need to know the exact size before they can operate.  If it's too big, he'll have to go to a hospital quite far away for the operation, they won't do it at our local one - another worry.  The cold weather and long drive up to the Midlands to see my Mum has affected him quite a lot with his heart failure, he's been exceptionally tired, more so than usual.

My health hasn't been good this year either, having been diagnosed with arthritis and bursitis in my hips, the start of a diabetic foot problem and my liver disease having progressed to Stage 2, and a lot of gut trouble caused mainly by anxiety and stress.

But there have been some good things....my nephew's wedding in August was truly lovely, despite it peeing down with rain the whole day, meaning we had to be inside in a conservatory (it was held in an old abbey, now a wedding venue) rather than outside in the gorgeous grounds.

I started a new hobby, card making, which I love and was pleasantly surprised to find I'm actually quite artistic, something I never knew!

My 60th birthday was lovely, we went away to Devon for the week and the day of my birthday was made really special by our wonderful friends.

We now have the funeral to get over with on the 11 January, there are some associated family problems which I'm not going into on here but which will be a big worry for some time to come.

But we're really hoping that 2020 will be an improvement on this year - I won't say it can't be any worse, as I don't want to tempt fate.

Thank you all so very much for all the support you've given me, it's made the bad times a lot more bearable and comforted me a lot.  I hope next year is a good one for all of you.