News from Mr Grady
Hello all!
I hope the warm weather finds you well and thriving.
This week, we celebrated my niece's birthday and my wife's birthday (you don't think I'm mad enough to share my wife's actual age do you?). As I've mentioned before, my niece lives in The Netherlands, and it was lovely that she took the time to video call us on my wife's birthday. My niece, with her parents, sang Happy Birthday in English, followed by a performance of the Dutch version. We were unable to reciprocate with a bilingual performance when it was my niece's turn.
What's been amazing about both birthdays though is that neither have relied on presents, gifts, or cards, as deliveries have been so unpredictable.
What has been important is the contact and the keeping up with each other, and everyone has felt so much better for it!
We had plenty of jolly chat, and we actually listened to one another, rather than watching the birthday girl simply tear paper off presents, distracted by whatever glittery presents had been purchased. (The same thing used to happen when my niece opened presents!)
We weren't distracted by all of the fuss around the birthday, it was simply a lovely chance to chat, catch up, wish everyone well, and look forward to the next birthday when hopefully, we can all be in the same place!
Another bit of contact has been pretty low-tech - a friend of mine and I have taken to emailing "letters" to each other, which has proven to be a lovely way of spending a little time catching up. In a "letter", you've got time to think about how you feel, choose exactly the right word to capture your day, and then send it off.
I do hope over the Easter break you've managed to connect with someone at least, to share a story or something of yourself, and to listen to someone else - it's an investment of time that I think we will always appreciate.
Have a good rest of the break,
Best Wishes,
Mr Grady