Learning to walk before I run

Watty1

Best wishes for today. Never going to be an easy day but good wishes all the same.

LadyWithAPlan

Sending you all a virtual hug on a hard day. 

Children are remarkably resilient / I still remember the day of my grans funeral I was 9 .. 

I love Glasgow but  not seen it at 7am 

beanielou

Thinking of you all today. 

teapot2

Thinking of you and the family today.   The wait for a funeral to take place is not easy IME.  Hope the holiday firm step up.

listoflists

Stepping out of lurkdom to say thinking of you and all your family today

rtandon27

Sending love & support to all of you today. xx

savingholmes

Sending love, peace 🕊️ and comfort 

killerpeaty

Thinking of you and your family 

QueenJess

Hoping today goes well and brings comfort all round.

edinburgher

Yesterday was tough but uplifting in the manner that only a funeral for a truly loved person can be. Mrs E did a beautiful short speech that reduced most of us to tears and a previously unknown Austrian relative did a star turn with a sensitive and detailed speech delivered in near-perfect English. I feel that we collectively did FIL proud, there was a great turnout.

It was a long day. After dropping off DD1 and DD2 at school and childminder, respectively, I drove to the restaurant where we were having the wake. I then got a taxi back home, followed by a lift to MIL's, then a limo to the funeral, the funeral itself and then a limo to the wake. I then drove from the wake to pick up DD1 from school, got stuck in traffic, back to the wake, then drove from the wake to MIL's, spent another 4-5 hours with family and then drove us all home!

I am physically exhausted today and a little bit emotionally drained too. Mrs E is tired and wistful, unsure what comes next, by which she means what she does next. She has been functioning at such a pique that I don't think she had realised that what she is meant to do next is nothing (or at least a lot less) She was very much the organiser for the funeral and it's time to step back and let the rest of us do a little more and for MIL to establish her own new routine. MIL seems to be a good bit happier, although we know she will have ups and downs as she gets used to life without her husband and passing the litany of upsetting little milestones that will crop up. 

DD2 has a cold, so Mrs E has spent the day nursing her and resting on the couch. I did our grocery shopping and managed an insanely large purchase of cat food sachets for Cat 1 (360 sachets, a year's supply)! Farmfoods had 3 for £30 and I was also able to use a £9 off £100 voucher. Please excuse me dropping in normal stuff, it gives me hope that life will return to normal, whatever that is

My email to TUI seems to have worked. I received an incredibly poorly timed phonecall yesterday (they were aware it was the funeral yesterday because of my missive, which was angry, a bit personal but solution-focused). They called back today all apologies and have cancelled the holiday, waived the cancellation charge of over £1,000 and will also refund the deposit. I call that a very good result and was polite and appreciative on the phone. I am still fuming, however, that it took emailing the 2 most senior TUI employees globally to achieve this. I will not be using them at any point in future.

DD1 has been promised a "yes day" tomorrow, with lots of silly fun with solo child attention from mum and dad (in shifts) and the opportunity to call the shots. The idea seemed to buck her up pretty quickly and we're hoping that we can help to build up her confidence to its usual level. I was talking to one of Mrs E's friends at the wake (our kids are the same age) and I very much agreed with her comment that while our kids might act like sassy tweens sometimes, they are still little girls and are quite vulnerable on occasion.