I have been busy with family the past three weeks. I went up to Armidale for a little break and while I was there my daughter misstepped and ruptured the meniscus behind her right knee. Luckily the injury required rest not an operation, that meant no work, no driving, no more than  a few minutes on her feet. Her husband took care of her the first week then I came home and was asked to go  for a week to drive her daughter to school, take Shirley to doctors appointments, physio etc and do the shopping. Cooking  Naomi and I shared.

I must admit that in a strange place I found the traffic overwhelming at rush hour. We lived in that area forty years ago but the old windy roads had been replaced by freeways  and six lane highways and just being in the right lane at the right time was a challenge. Poor Shirley said she felt like a driving instructor yelling :"Left lane Mum!" with me in the middle lane again. But we survived. Then at the next doctor's appointment he told her she still couldn't drive so I stayed a second week to help out. Luckily I had taken a lot of cold weather clothes as the days were cool and the nights were colder than here.

As a reward Christopher came to me for a week. He is tall so he put up the Christmas lights, helped me sort out the tree decorations, putting the star on top etc. He helped move some pot plants and did some other small jobs too high for me to do. Since the last fall I am not allowed to climb ladders. He was on the last week of University studies but as it is all online could work from here as easily as from home. I used to mind him when he was small,  before he went to school and then the family moved to do training in the Salvation Army and I maybe saw him a couple of times a year when I visited them. I had hardly seen him the past six years so it was a happy time of catching up for me. He went home today.  

The busy season is less busy than usual due to Covid restrictions but I still have some pleasant times ahead of the  Christmas season. Some of my friends have decided on small gathering and that is easier for me without the elaborate feasts that are usual it will be buy your own food in a nice restaurant. That for me means suitable foods rather than something someone else had ordered ahead of time that I can't eat. The Lions are just selling their cakes and puddings in our local shopping centre for three weeks instead of six so that is easier for me too, more time for me to catch up on housework, shopping etc..

So next week is the start of Christmas card writing, catching up with my girlfriends and finding out what the pastoral care needs are in the church community. I feel as if I am out of touch with people, particularly my older friends who wait for me to contact them but it was a case of family comes first and mostly a happy time.  And it was a bonding time with my grandson.  Money can't buy that.

There was a lot of talk between us involving Ray or Pa as Christopher called him. As the oldest grandchild he remembers more about Ray than the others. He remembers him before the bad strokes so as a more active person, remembers helping him out the back cooking BBQ etc. I am glad of that as when I have gone Ray will still be remembered. Especially it is important for the oldemr grandchildren to share their memories with Alice who was only three months old when Ray died.

And so my life such as it is  goes on. The year winds down from now for us. The school holidays are only three weeks away. The party season starts for the young but is oldies tend to do meet and greets rather than partying now. And in this time when Covid is still an issue that is more appropriate. After all we want to still be here when all this is over