My strengths!

Days 38 - 46

So this week..............

Monday February 17th 

 The bus driver who drove me to the hospital today. A friendly, very funny chap, who got one of his passengers to buy him an ice cream, and joked with her as she waited to eat hers. He made me laugh when he said to her "You'll have to drink it in a minute!' He made me smile! Very grateful for this moment on the bus.

Tuesday February 19th

I've spent a lot of time mid visit with Mum over the past 4 weeks in here. Coffee and conversation, whether it's with family, nurses and hospital staff or people I've just met have provided me with many moments I've been grateful for. The barrista  now knows my order, he smiles and jokes with me and it's a place where I always feel welcome and comfortable. It's provided some welcome relief during some very stressful times in the past few weeks, and for this I am truly grateful.

 Friday 21st February 

Today was a day devoted to Charlie, and so we went down to the Mildger park in Mandurah for a play. Today I am grateful for Charlie's growing courage. He has a fear of water and would usually never do what he was doing in this picture, but today he got his face wet, his clothes wet, his feet wet and his hair wet. He was so happy and seemed to forget about his fears as he splashed in the "water spout" as he called it. Grateful for his steps to overcome his fear today!

Saturday 22nd February

Today I took Hanna to see her Grandma for the first time since she has been in hospital. Hanna was very very excited to travel on the train and bus - something I simply take for granted. It made it an exciting journey with Hanna so excited. Hanna was so gentle and understanding of Mum when we were there. I was so proud and grateful for her being the beautiful, kind hearted, loving soul that she is, and the joy and happiness she brought to Mum with her visit.

Sunday 23rd February

 Today I am grateful for the way in which my brothers and I surrounded Mum with love and family. Narada brought the kids in, my brother Graham came in with his wife Jenny and my beautiful niece Ellen, and with left over roast lamb and bread rolls we shared an in hospital 'picnic'. So grateful to have had this moment. 

In the later afternoon I let Mum get some sleep and went for a walk in the city. I captured some moments as I walked through that surprised and delighted me. It was a magic Sunday afternoon. 

Day 37

15th February

Saturday I headed down to Silver Sands Resort with Hanna and Charlie where my dear friend Lorraine was staying with her two kids, Ashlea and Jasmine. 

Today my gratitude was for long and lasting friendships summer holidays, kids play time, swimming pools and BBQd sausages cooked in a frying pan! 

Lorraine and I have been best of friends since we were in Primary School, and have seen each other through highs and lows over the past 30 years. Today it was lovely to catch up in a relaxed environment, reflect on the past month, laugh and reminisce.

Day 36

14th February

Happy happy Valentines Day to all those who love and love to be loved!

My first moment of gratitude today was for the love of my life, my husband Narada. 

The other day I was eating a little Bounty Bar and I said to Narada "I really really love coconut It's the best" So this morning it's Valentines Day and Narada comes out with a bag of coconut and says "Happy Valentines Day. I know how much you love coconut so I got you a bag if it. " I was amused and flabbergasted and then he said "There's something else in there...." A Cherry Ripe Bounty Bar and a Coconut Rough. Lucky I love coconut! What a quirky lovely gorgeous man is my husband!

The next moment of gratitude came at the end of the day when my daughter brought home a card she  had made at school. She had made it by herself with some help with the cutting. The writing was all hers. I was so proud of her at this moment. 

My gratitude today is also for simplicity, and how a couple of simple ingredients can bring joy. I decided to make the kids play dough. We have plenty of manufactured stuff but it lasts five minutes before it gets mixed up with the other colours and  all turns into a brown colour. These moments I captured show the enjoyment that was had, there was quietness for about half an hour as they played, no fighting, no disagreements. It was just pure simple pleasurable play time. 

Day 35

13th February 

Today's gratitude is for my psychologist who I see on a regular basis. I'm grateful for the way she lets me talk and listens, and I'm also grateful for her questioning me and encouraging me to delve further into my thoughts, feelings, reactions and experiences. I come away from my sessions feeling opened up, cleaned out and put back together again, and that I have a plan in my mind for the next two weeks.

This photo of a blue wren hangs from the wall in the waiting room.Blue Wrens are my mother's favorite bird and each time I see this picture I think of her. I captured my grateful moment in this picture:

Day 33 and 34

11th February 

A day of tearful gratitude today, but in a place where I don't feel comfortable to photograph. Today Mum left the Intensive Care Ward and we said goodbye and thank you to some of the most amazing human beings I have ever come across. The nurses caring for my mother over the past three weeks have done so with the highest amount of dignity, love and care, and as we said goodbye today, a number of them came up and hugged my Mum and kissed her on the cheek. I wept tears of gratitude for all of Mum's carers over the past three weeks today, and also tears of relief and excitement for the next steps in Mum's recovery. Really the journey is only just beginning. 

So today's' gratitude is for the ICU team at the Mount Hospital for your care of not just Mum but all of our family during this really rough and scary few weeks.

12th February 

Two moments of gratitude today, and both involve spending time with our parents and taking that time to listen and absorb those family connections.

While the nurses took Mum for a shower today, my father and I went over to the park across the road to eat some rolls made of left over brisket Narada had made the night before for dinner. This park, although right next to a major arterial route was an amazingly peaceful place, and Dad and I watched numerous waterbirds flying and diving in and out of the lake.

A lunch date with my Dad is not a regular occurrence, but it was such a special and valued moment to have with him. We talked about everything and anything, the trepidation and fear as Mum starts rehabilitation and progresses through her recovery, my kids, my brothers and I as kids. After we'd finished eating we took a walk down the path and could hear a rushing and trickling of water. We discovered a waterfall in the middle of the park, not far back from the main road. We stood there watching it for about five minutes, and it a really relaxing and de-stressing moment. Here is my first moment of gratitude captured for today:

My second moment was taking Hanna out to the shopping center this afternoon and having a "Churros Kids" from San Churro. I was grateful for the one on one time with Hanna, we don't those moments very often anymore. Here is my captured moment of gratitude.

Day 32

10th February 2014

Two moments of gratitude to share today. 

The first was sitting on the balcony at the hospital with my Mum (and my Dad too) looking over the city. For all three of us this was a lovely moment and another step in the right direction of my Mum's recovery. She looked across the landscape with us, smiled and held both my Dad and my hands in either hand. It was a special moment and I captured this moment with this photo of the view from the balcony. After I took this picture I showed Mum and she gave it a nod of approval.

 The second was going to my first scrap booking group for the year. I have been going to this group with my Mum-in-law Deb since I first moved back from Melbourne in June 2011. All four of the other ladies are educators, or retired teachers, and each month Katrina gets us together to make a scrap booking page. It's a great example of the process and not the product. We create, we talk, we laugh, we reminisce. It's a familiar and comfortable routine that we are part of, and I'm always grateful for my Scrap booking night and these inspirational and fantastic women who are part of it.