That’s my girl…
My daughter Natasha in action for her club side, Hornets (Weston-super-Mare).
My daughter Natasha in action for her club side, Hornets (Weston-super-Mare).
I was an adult when Bill came into my mum’s life in the early / mid 90’s. They were together for a short while, each travelling between Yeovil and Bristol before getting engaged and then married. Their getting together was the catalyst for me truly moving on with my own life after what had gone on before;
A family’s festive season often involves children, laughter, food, gifts and family gatherings etc. Our household was no exception, although children getting older gave it a different flavour this year; Changes due to the passing of time, like the milestones of leaving for university and being old enough for part-time jobs amongst other things, made the difference more noticeable this year. With Imogen being just 10 and still faintly clinging to the Santa myth for what is almost certainly the last time, as well as our young nephew Alex being here too, some childhood innocence about the occasion remained however!
It’s lovely seeing kids enjoy something. Laughing and playing, with all of the innocence of youth etc. That joy ratchets up a notch or three when it’s your own kids, and you witness first hand their enjoyment of an activity or whatever it may be. So, imagine then the dismay, when something that has brought an immense amount of pleasure for a number of reasons over a number of years starts having the opposite effect. Very simply…I see my lad doing something reluctantly that he used to do without question and full of joy, and that makes me sad and want to know why.
One of the beauties of having several children, is that they are all so different from each other. Watching each of them grow up and interact with the world around them is fascinating in each case. As a parent, one’s relationship with each of them is rewarding for both the same and different reasons as a result of that individuality. Whilst they are all different however, they are after all the components of a whole. The dynamic is very noticeably different when one is not there, as has been seen of late with our eldest moving away to university. I’ve written a few things on this blog about my pride in my kids…three out of four of them so far. So, it’s more than high time I finished this off and spoke about the youngest of the brood, Imogen Frances Foley.
So in previous posts, I’ve spoken about the academic and related achievements of my two eldest children Charlotte & Natasha and my pride in them. Of course, I do have two other children of whom I’m equally proud…starting with my son, Adam.
In my previous post about parental pride, I spoke about my daughter Natasha and her passing all her GCSEs, and about how that got her into her intended college course at SGS Filton:
A week after her older sister achieved 4 fine passes in her A-Levels that saw her secure a place at her chosen university, Thursday 24th August was GCSE results day for Natasha, my 16 year old daughter.
On 27th August 1999, I became a parent for the first time. Charlotte Grace Foley, weighing 7lbs 13oz, arrived in Room 7 of Medway Maritime Hospital’s delivery ward early on a Friday evening.