|  HOME  |  FOOT  |
1990    1991    1992    1993    1994    1995    1996    1997    1998    1999    2000    2001    2002    2003    2004    2005    2006    

CHRISTMAS 2002

Our greetings to you at the end of this year - and what a busy and traumatic year it has been.   We will remember 2002 as a year of big changes for our family.

Last Christmas Doris became ill and was admitted to hospital.   Tests showed she had had a stroke, but also that the cancer had returned.   She went home where Harold was able to look after her as well as she had looked after him for the 54 years of their marriage.   In early August she died.   Harold has shown us his great strength of character as he comes to terms with his loss.   Please remember Doris and Harold in your prayers.

In October Uncle John (Williams) died, after being ill for a several months.   Again the family joined together to say goodbye.   Again our family mourns a loss.

In all the sadness we have also had happiness and this came in the form of two little bundles of joy.   We welcome Emily and Charlotte into the family.   Emily was first to arrive - in March - choosing Mel and Antony for her parents.   Those beautiful eyes and cheeky smile ensure she has all the attention she craves, especially from her proud grandparents! Then in August Charlotte arrived and decided her mum and dad, Jo and Adrian, no longer needed a good night’s sleep and set about making that happen.   Oh, the joys of parenthood!


In September we managed a couple days away and went to Coomb Martin in North Devon.   It was good to walk along the beach, build sandcastles and let the wind blow away the cobwebs.   Then it was back home to deal with the problems we have had with our house, and the continued saga of insurance companies, unreliable builders and plumbers that never arrive.   Even our brand new garden fence blew down after standing for only 3 weeks.   Why do things have a way of becoming so complicated?

Michelle :   There have been big milestones this year for Michelle - in May she celebrated her 18th birthday, in September she left home and in October she passed her driving test (how scary is that?!).   In March she was in her last Judith Hockaday show at the Wyvern Theatre - she had a wonderful time but on the last night everyone cried because it was their last show after 13 years of dancing together.   Not only were a number of them leaving for University, but eight were going on to professional dance training.

Michelle narrowed down her choice of dance training courses to three.   In March she auditioned at The Northern Ballet School in Manchester and was offered a place.   She went to Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance to watch classes for a day and came home very enthused.   After the Rambert audition she was offered an unconditional place so she decided to accept the offer, decline the NBS offer and not go for the third audition.   How relieved and excited we were that she had won a place at the best school in the country! In September Michelle moved to London and started the course, which is at the Brunel University in Twickenham.   She comes home each weekend to continue her work (in New Look), see Philip and collect the next week’s clean clothes.   Michelle continues to receive physiotherapy for a muscle problem in her back, but it is mending albeit slowly.   In early December two very proud parents watched Michelle dance in the end of term show - we can see why Rambert has such a good reputation.

Mandy admits to having a very stressful year!   The highs of Michelle’s achievements and the lows of her leaving home.   The frustration of not being able to do more for Doris and Harold, mixed with the satisfied feeling of knowing she helped them in a difficult time.   And to top it all off, it was her 40th birthday!

The dreaded 40th arrived but Duncan and Michelle had arranged a super day for her, so she ended up feeling happy not depressed.   She can’t decide whether it was the champagne for breakfast, or the promised trip to Paris, or the new car she enjoyed the most.   Or perhaps the splendid outing and dinner.   Whichever it was, she felt spoilt and thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Mandy joined a choir in February called Scratch.   They performed as the sun dawned on 1st May, standing on a hillside overlooking Swindon.   In July they sang a few times at the Town Gardens during the Old Town Festival.   There are no musical instruments - only voices - and learning harmonies is something fairly new to Mandy and quite challenging.

Mandy’s other hobby is the website, this year taking a couple of thousand photographs.   She is not happy with the current presentation of the site because there are dozens of things waiting to be sorted, mainly to do with the family history side of things.   That bit is being re-designed, so in the meantime what is already at the site is being left unfinished and not being up-dated, so is bothering her!   Time is what is needed, and that has been in short supply this year.

Duncan: has had to juggle his job and family life this year to accommodate his need to be with his parents and the necessity of doing his job well.   He joined Cap Gemini Ernst and Young in Bristol over 8 years ago, but has been working on a client’s site for the last 4 ½ years.   This came to an end in October, so he started commuting to Bristol each day.   However as we write this letter, Duncan has been made redundant.   Fortunately Duncan looked around for another job when news of possible redundancies spread last month and he has been offered a position with Endeva - where he had been working for the last 4 ½ years - and should start there in January.


Duncan has had little time for other activities this year, so has only attended a couple of football matches and has only watched one cricket match.

As you can see we have faced many changes this year.   Our thoughts and wishes go to you.


May the Peace of Christmas remain with you
                                             
1990    1991    1992    1993    1994    1995    1996    1997    1998    1999    2000    2001    2002    2003    2004    2005    2006    
HOME       Contact Us       Errors       Introduction       Lea Family       Rabbits       Surnames       Us       Your Photo       TOP