A Few Ramblings…
Forty-six year old Christian happily negotiating the world with a wife and three daughters
I need your help, please… – 20th July 2012
Eighteen months ago today I lost my Dad, the man I then described as being ‘the best father I could ever hope to have‘, to heart failure. Dad was 78 when he left us and had been healthy up to around two years before he passed away.
Dad
Heart failure is a debilitating illness which I hadn’t even heard of before Dad was ill. It sounds very dramatic, as if people suffering suddenly keel over, but it’s actually a long and drawn out process whereby the person affected gradually becomes less mobile, due to their heart beating less efficiently.
Although heart failure takes on many forms and there are a number of treatments available, which largely consist of attempting to control the symptoms, there is currently no cure for it.
Heart failure affects at least 1% of people in the UK, with the numbers increasing steeply with age. The number of patients with heart failure is set to rise in the next 20 years, due to the combined effects of improved survival in patients who develop cardiovascular disease and an ageing population.
This summer Vodafone are trying to raise one million pounds for charities and have made it incredibly easy for people to donate and I’ve decided to make the British Heart Foundation my nominated charity, in memory of Dad.
If you’re willing to help, and you’re in the UK, simply text the words BRAY735 (with no space in between) to 70070 in order to donate £5 to the British Heart Foundation. (You can choose to donate £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 – simply replace the 5 at the end of the number above, with your chosen amount – e.g. BRAY731 to donate £1). All text donations are free to any network, you simply pay the cost of your donation. The donation will simply be added to your next bill, or taken from your credit, if you’re on pay as you go. You can find out more about Vodafone’s JustTextGiving here.
You’ll also have the opportunity to add Gift Aid to your donations, to make them even more valuable.
The great news is that if I manage to raise £100 for my charity, Vodafone have promised to double this!
I’d give anything to have Dad back with us again. Unfortunately, this isn’t possible, but one small thing I can try and do is to raise money to try and help find a cure for heart failure and ultimately stop others having loved ones taken from them by this cruel disease.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for any donation, however small, that you’re able to give. It really means a lot to me and, of course, to the British Heart Foundation too!
Emily’s 2nd Birthday – 16th July 2012
Following on, just one day after Rebekah’s birthday, came Emily’s 2nd birthday.
For ages she had been telling people that she was going to be two and now the day had finally arrived.
As Rebekah had done, she opened her cards first, before we moved into the lounge to open her presents – a balance bike and rocket from us and a skirt and leggings from Rebekah and Holly.
Emily with some of her presents
New leggings
Emily trying on her new skirt
Eager interest from her older sisters
Holly and Emily
Aliens from the rocket
Emily’s new balance bike
Emily with her new elephant, Joey
We had a quick breakfast before taking the older two girls to school.
After dropping them off, we adjourned for a treat of enjoying a cooked breakfast at the excellent Palmieri’s.
I opted for scrambled egg, beans, sausage and bacon, while Sarah chose mushrooms on toast. Emily enjoyed some toast and was then offered an ice cream which she instantly accepted.
Emily waiting for her breakfast
Emily with her toast
My delicious breakfast
Emily enjoying her breakfast ice cream
After leaving Palmieri’s we popped over to Mum’s, for her to pass on her presents, before heading home for lunch.
Emily reading with Grandma
Emily enjoying her new book
Emily enjoyed a lazy birthday sleep in the afternoon, after which we collected the girls from school and headed to see Sarah’s parents where Emily received more presents as well as some chocolate birthday cake!
Another present to unwrap
Emily’s new guitar
Sarah’s birthday cake for Emily
Emily hesitating in blowing out her candles – eventually Holly helped!
We got back home around 4.45pm and shortly afterwards Heather, Hugh and Katy came round to pass over their gifts for Emily.
It had been a long and busy birthday.
Rebekah’s 8th Birthday – 15th July 2012
After the excitement of yesterday’s bowling party, Rebekah had a fairly low-key 8th birthday, spending most of the day seeing friends and relations.
Emily, as usual, woke us early and Rebekah came into our room soon after 7am, keen to open her cards and presents. She was somewhat dismayed to find that she only had, in total, 3 cards to open, but we assured her that more would follow during the day and Holly and Emily hastened off to write their cards for her.
We moved into the lounge where Rebekah opened her presents from us – a new watch, book on trees, a stripy polo-shirt and Lego Space Shuttle.
Rebekah with some of her presents
Unwrapping her first present
A Lego Space Shuttle
Holly
Emily getting excited
Rebekah’s new purple watch
She also opened the presents received from her party yesterday.
One of Rebekah’s favourite birthday cards
Holly
Rebekah’s present and card from Tanisha
Rebekah enjoyed a birthday breakfast of bacon rolls and hash-browns.
Bacon rolls and hash browns
Later, we went along to our family service at our church, after which we were able to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Rebekah and enjoy an excellent cake which a good friend, Paul, had made for her.
Paul’s birthday cake for Rebekah
Rebekah blowing out candles
In the afternoon we went round to Sarah’s parents and then later to my sister’s house, where Rebekah opened more presents and enjoyed playing a game of Scrabble!
More Lego from Nanny and Grandad
Another card for the collection
A game of Scrabble in progress
In the evening we enjoyed a Chinese takeaway – another of Rebekah’s favourite meals.
Sadly, the waiting and excitement of the day was all too much for Emily:
Emily
Overall, Rebekah enjoyed her 8th birthday. The hardest part is the long wait until her next birthday!
Rebekah’s birthday bowling party – 14th July 2012
Rebekah invited six friends along for a bowling party, in celebration of her 8th birthday, at the Tenpin in Maidenhead.
Bowling console and balls
Our allotted lanes: numbers 13 and 14
Saturday morning is designated for children’s bowling parties and we joined a number of other groups who took their places at their allotted lanes, soon after 10am.
Rebekah shared her lane with Holly, Tanisha and Maisy while the other lane was taken up by Ellen, Eleanor, Freya and Martha. It was Holly’s first time bowling and she ended up using the ramp for most of her shots.
Waiting patiently
Young bowlers
The set up for bowling parties includes two games of bowling, food and unlimited drinks, balloon modelling as well as birthday cake (which we had to provide) and worked out at £12.50 per head.
Time for some food!
Holly with her pink sword
The food (largely nuggets and chips) followed by tubs of ice cream were hastily devoured by the youngsters. Later, one of the helpers brought along the birthday cake with lit candles on, for Rebekah to blow out.
Rebekah with her two best friends – Maisy and Tanisha
Arrival of Rebekah’s cake
With all the other games around, it wasn’t long into the second game of bowling that the novelty began to wear off, and the girls enjoyed looking at the other games and activities on offer while ‘fetching’ each other when their turn came up for bowling.
By 12.15pm it was all over and parents began arriving to collect their children.
After the others had departed, Rebekah and Holly were keen to try out the ‘hurricane simulator’ and we duly paid our £2 for around 30 seconds of ‘entertainment’.
Inside the hurricane simulator
Rebekah enjoyed her bowling party and would like to have another one another year.
A Few Ramblings... 