Feeling good....

For the last ½ year or so my legs have been really bothering me.  I did go see the doctor who ended up  just giving me pain killers. I am not big on taking pills so I only did take them for a few days. Since then I have struggled on and just tried to rest my legs whenever I could. 

Just before going to Ireland I started to take a spoonful of Cod Liver Oil in the mornings. After about a week I thought my legs felt a bit better. Then I had to go off to Ireland and I had no Cod Liver Oil with me. For two weeks I ate unhealthy, drank too much soda and hardly drank any water. While in Ireland my legs were sooo sore, they even ached when I was just sitting.

Since coming home I have been on the Cod Liver Oil again and drinking water. After a week I think it is having an effect.


So today my legs did not hurt, they were not heavy and they did not ache. I had sooo much more energy. I realised how much the pain/heaviness in them really drains me. Normally when I come home from work I can only think about putting my feet up on the sofa. Other times I sit at work for 15 minutes or so with my feet up, so I can get the strength to drive home. 

But today after work I went to town, met my friend Rhona and had a cuppa and chat with her - and I sinned by eating a piece of strawberry cake!(but otherwise I have been good today!) It was great seeing Rhona and yet again the time flew by! 

Now having a full day at work and then going out afterwards is something I do alot. Usually my life is busy. I have full days and I love that. What was different about today was how I felt! I had so much enery, I did not feel exhausted and longing for the sofa to put my weary legs up for ½ an hours rest! 

In fact, on the drive home the weather was soooo beautiful. The sun was huge and it was low in the sky. I could see it through the trees in the forest. It made me want to go for a walk. So when I came home I went inside and got the camera and then went a walk. YES - I WENT A WALK!!! Now I have longed to do that on other days but on other days, my legs were soooo sore that I just couldn´t do it! I would limp from the car to the house.

However today, I had the most wonderful walk. It was cold but beautiful. I walked without even limping and had a lovely 20 minute walk! 

The pictures do not do the colours of the sky justice. The sky was more red/orange/yellow but I just could not get it captured on my wee camera.

Now for something else:
Years ago I went to Switzerland for 3 months. There I met a girl called Linda Corry. She had (and still has) a beautiful singing voice. Linda just recently made a CD. I bought dad one for Christmas and so when I was home clearing dad´s house, I found the CD. I  brought it back with me and listened to it yesterday for the first time and I haven´t stopped listening to it since. I just love the songs on it. Below is a wee taste of it. If you like it, it is called Break my plan by Linda Corry and all the money from the CD goes to the work of CEF. 

 

WARNING.....

...this could be a LONG post!!! 

I have been back in Denmark a week. 

This time last Sunday, Leah and I had a long journey in front of us. First we were to take the bus from Belfast to Dublin Airport, then from there fly to Denmark. However instead of taking the bus some good friends decided that they would drive us. What a treat that was! It turned into a day trip out!

We stopped for lunch in a lovely wee restaurant, then since we still had time to spare, we went by The Battle of the Boyne Visitors Centre and had a tour around it. I am so embrassed to say that I do not know my history. I actually thought James was King and it was William of Orange who came to try and take the throne from James. Got that wrong! Also discovered that there were Danes who helped fight in the Battle - Fynske Foot (from the Island that Kristian was born on!) All very interesting.

After an hour there it was time to get to the airport. We had a good flight home and we were finally home in our wee house at midnight. It was a long journey but a good one.

Monday was a hard day. Getting home so late meant I first got to bed at about 1am and then was up again the next day at 6am for work. 

The whole week has been hard, I have felt a bit lost, not really knowing what to do with myself. I have lost count of how many times I have thought about ringing dad or gone to check Skype to see if he was online. Kristian has been the same. One evening while I was lying on the sofa Kristian came in and said "Are you not going to..." and then he stopped. He was going to say "...ring and check on your dad." It is just going to take time.

Friday evening Sara rang with some great news. She had been out looking at an apartment. 

We had been looking for a new place for her for a few months.When we moved for her in November we knew the place she had gotten was only temporary. The room was fine, but she had to share the kitchen and bathroom with a whole bunch of old men and she really wanted her own place with her own bathroom and kitchen. 

Since November we have been looking for something else. She had been close on a few occassions to finding a place, but always something happened and the whole thing would fall through. Finally on Friday everything came together and she found her place! A place she can afford and that´s in a lovely area. She just loves it.

 After living like she has the last 3 months she will really appreciate having her very own space. Guess what we are doing next weekend?? Yes - helping her move!


Saturday I finally got my case unpacked and we got the house cleaned and organised. Kristian also spent a lot of time clearing out some of the garage. Things are looking good.

Now it´s Sunday and we are all relaxing. I had Sunday School this morning with a bunch of hyper boys! So I am sooo enjoying my Sunday afternoon on the sofa listening to a CD that my friend Linda Corry has made. It is such a good CD. Ahhhhh I wish there were more Sundays in a week!!! Just a few more days like this would be wonderful:-)

Going home....

Today we leave to head back to Denmark. I am feeling all sorts of emotions. On the one hand I am looking forward to going home and seeing Kristian and Andrew again, (I wont see Sara as she lives 4 hours away), and on the other hand I am so sad to be leaving Ireland and this wee home that has been my dads for just over a year. It is strange not having a home here anymore. However I know I have family and friends who I can stay with anytime I wish.

Family and friends have been so wonderful over the last 2 weeks. They have dropped by and helped with all sorts of things! For that I am truly thankful. I don´t know what I would have done without all their love and support. Thank you doesnt seem to say enough.

Dad´s house is now empty except for the beds we slept in last night. 

On Tuesday I didn´t think we were going to make it, I was starting to panic a little when I saw all the things we still had to pack. However by Wednesday afternoon I could see a light at the end of the tunnel, things were slowly coming together.

Wednesday evening Leah and I went to my old school friend´s house for dinner. It was lovely spending time with Alex and his wife and kids and it was wonderful to eat a home cooked meal. Tracey was an awesome cook! (I haven´t been doing much cooking over here!) It was just a lovely relaxing evening catching up.

Thursday morning we worked on the house again and then Leah and I decided to have the afternoon off. We headed into town and had a few hours walking around. It was actually good to do something other than pack boxes and sort through things.

Thursday evening we went to see a film. It was Leah´s choice...uummmh...a romantic zombie film. Rather sweet and boring but she enjoyed it.

Friday we worked hard all day and got the last of the things packed and taken to charity shops. Friday evening the furniture and appliances were picked up and my dad´s home became just an empty house except for 2 beds. It felt strange.

I was ahead of schedule so Saturday my cousin and her kids came by and we went out for lunch. It was such a lovely couple of hours with them. Leah then headed into town with them. Gillian came up and we got some last minute papers sorted and then just spent some time together. Lauren and Lewis went to town too.

To end our Saturday we went to see Les Miserable.. Since we didn´t have a sofa or TV we needed something to pass our Saturday evening, so the cinema seat became our sofa and the big screen became our TV. What a fantastic film!! I enjoyed every bit of it and I will admit I had a wee cry too.

A lot achieved today...

Today Gillian came up and we got to work organising things regarding dad´s death. There really is a lot to do and loads of different people to contact like Sky TV, the  electricity board, the insurance people etc. We got the most of it done this morning. Then this afternoon I got some more things sorted in the house. 

Then this evening some of my friends had contacted me and said they would like to come by for a wee cuppa tea. I don´t have too many nights to see everyone individually so I decided they all could just drop by, if they had time on Monday evening, I would be home. That is what happened. 

Also some close friends of mum and dad came by to help pack things down and they did a fantastic job! They got a lot of things sorted in the bedroom:-) Thanks Sandra and Jim.

The evening was great. There was a big surprise for me! One of my friends lives in Scotland but is home visiting her mum. At one stage I went in the kitchen to get something and when I came walking into the living room again there was my friend  Rhoda standing looking at me. I got the shock of my life! I couldn´t believe she was here. It was sooo good to see her again. In fact it was good to see everyone again.

We had a great evening sharing stories from our lives. (Now girls remember what happens in Belfast - stays in Belfast hahaha)

One thing I forgot to write about last week was the day that Krisitan and I went to see my old home. It was gone! Totally demolished!  The place looked so different.

 We knew roughly where the house would have been. We lived beside an electricity pole and we found the pole.

 

 Then Kristian made another discovery. He found the tiles that would have been our doorstep. We had actually found the entrance into my old home. It was really special. My first thought was to tell dad about it and then I remembered he wasn´t around to tell. However later on one of the visitors told me that dad had told her about finding the hall tiles, so I was happy to know he had seen them not so long ago.

 

 Here I am standing in what would have been our living room, warming myself by the fire:-)

Wonder what this area will look like in a few years time?! Looking forward to seeing what they accomplish.   

A special day

 Today was dad´s funeral and we wanted the service to be a celebration of his life and that it was! 

There were about 270 people in the church, all of them there because dad  had somehow  touched their lives.  He left a great testimony behind him. People had such wonderful things to say about him and I could only agree with everything. It really made me proud to call him my dad. He was a wonderful dad, granda, father-in-law and friend.

 

 There was only one flower on the coffin which was from his family. That included his Danish family too. Kristian´s whole family wanted to be in on a flower. 

Otherwise people, instead of sending a flower, could send money that would be given to the Bridgewater Suite in the Belfast City Hospital. It was them that gave dad such a lot of care and support in the past couple of years.

 The service was so special and there was a lovely atmosphere in the church. Both ministers did a great job in the service. 

It is strange how you can feel so sad while yet feeling so happy. I am sad to have lost dad but so happy to know where he is.

.I think the hardest part of the day was the last hymn. We had picked "How great Thou Art" a hymn dad loved and that I also love. I love the words and when I started singing I could almost hear dad singing along in his deep voice. I could almost see him standing with his eyes closed and his arms raised in praise. Oh it was a hard hymn to get through. 

It was really special to meet people that I hadn´t seen in years and to be re-united with old friends. 

Now I am exhuasted both physically and emotionally. I think it´s an early night for me. Tomorrow we will have a family day - just the 5 of us together enjoying being a family for a day. 

On Sunday, Kristian, Sara and Andrew will go home to Denmark again, I am going to miss them. Leah and I will stay here and get dad´s house packed together.

The Funeral

For those who may be interested in coming to dad's funeral. It will be held tomorrow, Friday 8th February, at 11am in Richview Presbyterian Church, Donegall Road. 

Today we went to the funeral home to see him and he looked so at peace. 

The last few days have been hectic. There have been so many things to organise and we have had so many friends and family come by to comfort and encourage us. Our days have been full and in some ways I feel like I have been here for a few weeks rather than a few days. 

This evening Sara and Andrew arrived and it is soooo great to have them here. Its just great to have the whole family gathered together. It was especially good to see Sara as we have not physically seen her since Christmas. Just a pity it had to be under such sad circumstances.

I hope tomorrow we have a wonderful celebration of Dad's life. He was a great dad, granda, father-in-law and friend and we want to celebrate the fact that because we knew him, we were changed for the better. 

The song below is dedicated to dad - because of him I have been changed for the good. Dad, you are always in my heart.

Dad is Home....

...really HOME!! 

You never know what a day will bring forth. Sunday when I woke up I had no idea what lay ahead and how one phone call would change my life. 

Gillian called me on my mobile but I didn´t hear it, as the phone was in the bedroom. Luckily, I went to get my phone just 5 minutes after she called. (I wanted to take a picture of my crazy neighbour, but that is a whole other story for another time, right now I am so thankful that I did go get my phone when I did.)

 I knew Gillian was going to visit dad so when I saw she had phoned I knew something must be wrong, but I  thought that dad must have had another nose bleed. I called her back to hear how things were and was not prepared for what I heard.

 Dad was gone, he had passed away. I couldn´t believe my ears!

 I had just talked with him Saturday evening at about 8pm his time. We had a great chat and chatted for a good half hour to forty minutes. He was feeling great, he sounded bright and fresh. He had had a great day. He had gone for a walk in the sun and enjoyed getting so much fresh air. He had also seen a film I recommended and had enjoyed it so much. 

I went to bed feeling good about him and not at all worried because he sounded so good.

Dad is now home....really HOME! Home with family and friends who have gone before but more importantly he is home with the Lord which was something he was soooo looking forward to. I miss him. I can´t believe I will never hear his voice again (this side of heaven) or even get to hug him. (I loved to hug him) But I know where he is and I know he would never exchange places. He is out of pain, he is healthy, he is happy and loved. 

He was a wonderful dad. He would have done anything for me. I knew I was loved and I am so blessed to have had a dad like him. 

Below is a tribute to him. The song is sung by Guy Penrod and it is one of my favourites. Listen to the words as you watch the pictures I put together of precious times that we have had together as a family with dad.

Dad is home...

Dad is now home from the hospital and is doing well. He is very happy to be back in his own wee house again and in just over a week Leah and I will be there with him.

This is the first weekend that I have been at home in two weeks. Last weekend I was in Ireland. The weekend before that I was in London so I must say I am enjoying this weekend at home. (Out is good, but home is best!)

 I spent the first part of the day being a taxi driver for Leah. Normally Andrew drives her around but today she had to be at her friends birthday party brunch for 10.30am. This was just a little too early for him on a Saturday morning.

This weekend it is Kristian´s turn to be away. He has gone to a summer house with 4 of his friends for their "Christmas Dinner". (Better late than never!) This is something they have done for the last 3 or 4 years and they have a great time together eating the most delicious food. I got the job of making Pavlova and Cheesecake for them so I hope they taste ok. At 11am this morning I waved goodbye to my hubby and will see him again tomorrow afternoon.

The rest of the day I have spent clearing out and cleaning up. I got the whole house cleaned and the kitchen cupboards organised again. They were starting to get a bit messy but now they are organised for another wee while.

Tomorrow I hope to paint a little.....but we´ll see what tomorrow brings.