Australian children have just come back from their 6-week summer holidays.
So have their teachers….

The first year after Greg died, I dreaded the Christmas holidays.  All those long weeks of just me and the kids.  NO trips away (every holiday doubles in price during the holidays as we all know).  No will to do more than walk the tracks to the beach near our home and photograph things. … and always the uncertainty of what work I could come back to.

I’m not sure that the second year was any better.

By the third year, I had some coping strategies – meet up with friends.  Go to the parties you want to go to and skip the ones you don’t.  …and I had a job to go to.

This year was the first summer holiday where I felt completely relaxed and OK in my own skin.  I relaxed.  I dreamed.  I looked forward to doing things ….
Maybe this is me, getting used to not having Greg here.
Maybe this is me, feeling comfortable in my (now) permanent job that I would return to.
Maybe this is me, feeling excited about catching up with friends.
one in particular…….

I’m not sure what it is but I am so much calmer and happier than I was 4 short years ago.