Life!

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us.”       Charles Dickens

I think the above quotation sums up my experience of 2015, the year I turned sixty.

It was a season of light, darkness, profound lessons and a wedding. 

There was a time when I worked in the United Kingdom as a live-in carer, 2015 was no different.

I planned it down to the finest detail, do some “caring” for two months, take a week’s break in Ireland, return to complete two months of caring, thereafter the plan was to attend the Soroptimist International Conference in Turkey.

All well and good, everything was going according to plan.  I took up a position in a picturesque remote little village in the Cotswolds.  It was such a beautiful setting, except that mobile connectivity was basically non-existent (fortunately I had a router in my cottage) so I wasn’t entirely cut off from the world.

I was assigned a wonderful little cottage on the property, however I was desperately lonely.  The residents residing in this little place were awful snobs and were certainly not going to strike up a conversation with a Carer from South Africa – heaven forbid.  My client proved to be very difficult, every single day she criticised my cooking.  It was a dark time and I asked to end my tenure with this particular client. 

I then spent a week in Northern Ireland, which was so lovely and I met and interacted with amazing people.  That visit certainly restored by faith in human beings and the kindness of strangers was so heart-warming.

Disappointingly, I could not find another suitable caring position so I headed off home.  In the meantime my little sister met a wonderful man and was planning on visiting him in Mexico for three months.  I was asked work in her place for the months that she would be away.  Incidentally we both worked for George so it was a smooth transition.  I got to spend every day for six weeks before she departed with my sister.  Two weeks into her holiday in Mexico she suffered a massive heart attack and died. 

What an unbelievable turn of events.  All the “ifs” ….. If I had stayed in the UK I would not have had the privilege of spending quality time with her.  

Losing a sibling is a profoundly sad and heart wrenching experience and on top of it dealing with Mexican authorities was next level awful.

2015 was proving to be my annus horribilis!

One day out of the blue (as they say in the classics).  We received a wonderful request.  A lovely young couple asked if they could get married (ceremony and reception) in our garden.

It was such a beautiful request; we just needed to be involved in and with something positive. 

Fiona was cremated in Mexico and a couple of days before the wedding, her friend arrived from Mexico – we could finally lay her to rest.

Our garden was transformed into a magical space – clever draping and strings of little fairy lights make for a wonderful transformation.  When we advised our neighbours that we were going to be hosting this event – they in turn offered verges for parking and even their gardens for photographs.

It was truly such a beautiful wedding, filled with love, laughter, happiness and joy and more importantly there is always so much to be grateful for.