Friday, March 11, 2011

Didn't we Have a Lovely Time.......

..... the week we went to Egypt :-)

When mum died last year, I went through a whole gamut of emotions. First of all there was guilt, guilt because I wasn't there, worse still I was away in London having a lovely time at Knit Nation. Then there was anger because her last year had been such a hard one. That was followed by relief (and then guilt again for feeling relief) that her struggle was finally over - because it was a struggle towards the end. Most of all though there was just an overwhelming sense of loss, and a great void in my life. It's all taken it's toll.

I've also had to come to terms with a permanent rift in my relationship with my brother, although ultimately this actually has been a very positive thing if that doesn't sound odd. We've always had an up/down/on/off relationship, not having to work so hard at something has been very liberating and far less stressful.

Finally I am able to feel very peaceful about it all. This has been helped no end by a family holiday in Sharm el Sheikh. I'd wanted something that we could all do together to remember mum, closure for all of us really, and deciding to go on holiday was the best decision I have ever made (almost!). As you might remember, mum loved her garden. The hotel was beautifully landscaped, and at first I would think "mum would like this" or "mum would like that" and then gradually I just felt that she was there with us, enjoying what we were enjoying, and that was a very comforting and healing thing to feel.

So, time for a few holiday photos. I'll probably make a couple of posts rather than overwhelm the thread. We stayed at the lovely Reef Oasis Blue Bay Hotel, and I'm afraid we didn't set foot outside the complex for the entire week!

First of all, there was the sunset as we flew into Egypt



Our lovely view of the pool from our room


Wonderful towel art!


Beautiful flowers




Here I am with my youngest DS - wearing my beautiful Sweet Pea shawl made by the lovely Franney


And with my beautiful daughter


And with Mr A


This was our favourite sunbathing terrace with a fabulous view


Another view from the terrace


And to end with for now, another sunset


More photos to follow in a few days!

3 comments:

franney said...

Oh Joy, what lovely holiday memories you will have and i'm so glad your Mum was "there" with you x
The photos are just beautiful, i especially like the arrival sunset and of course the picture of you and your youngest ;o)
I am so pleased that you are still getting use from the shawl, i was just thinking about it the other day!

{{{hugs}}}

Joy said...

It's a lovely shawl Fran, I use it all the time :-)

DS is scruubing up quite well these days!

Yvonne said...

Joy, my father died ten years ago and I still sometimes think "Dad would have loved this". I'm glad your holiday did you so much good. Lovely photos. It looks wonderful.