Simple wishes

Dear Ella,

Have been having a bit of a full on tidy up and sort out of various areas, nooks and drawers of Allington.  This has included the bulging, useless, annoying clip on the fridge that moos like a cow when ever you use it (thanks Mum!).  Anyway, the many bits of paper clipped under it - suddenly looked pointless tonight - so they got it.

Christmas thank you letters, discount coupons for Sainsbury's, receipts and lost shopping lists - and then right at the bottom was our list "Simple Wishes"list.

Do you remember how I made the three of us write down "simple wishes" that we wanted to try and make happen in 2012?  The rule was - they had to be simple and potentially achievable - why?  Well you were still in the depths of chemo, Sophie was still getting better, and I as ever was attempting to put one foot in front of the other and move from one day to the next.  It was in the spirit of things to look forward to as we abandoned 2011 and looked forward into 2012. Here is what we all wished for:

Ella

1. See the sea.  You did - we went to Woolacombe in late March and again in the summer
2. Go to Wimbledon.  You did - with Amy in the the June, just as you finished chemo
3. See the Lion King musical (again) - you did, thanks to SACO and the Lion King being on at the hippodrome in Bristol
4. Go for a nice long walk - you walked along the beach with your girlfriends in August last year
5. Buy a bike and go for a cycle ride - no joy, but we sort of did that for you by going to Glasto a few weeks ago on bikes some of us!)
6  Sit on top of the sand dunes in Woolacombe - done again with your girlfriends last summer

5 out of 6 not bad

Sophie
1. Weekend away in London with a girlfriend - done, a day last summer with Hollie, then a few days away Easter just gone
2.  Go on a huge trampoline - not yet
3.  Get out of the UK for a break - done, the wonderful Gaynor and Ian flew you to the USA last summer
4.  Get bellybutton pierced - done last summer, it looks amazing

3 out of 4 not bad

Jo
1. Go to Cornwall - done, three times since I wrote the wish down
2. See Faithless in concert - not done, but they have disbanded
3.  Attend a creative writing course - done, a one day event earlier this year
4.  Start a new blog - done "Dear Ella" here with - bet you wish I hadn't made that wish

3 out of 4 - that's good.

Simple wishes - nice things don't have to be massive

Lots of love
Mum
xx