It has been a difficult year for a number of reasons, one being that my much loved Granny died leaving a huge hole in our family- we all miss her wit, her love and her wisdom.
The funeral was sad, but rather unique as we built a subtle Disney theme into our farewell to her. Granny (who was in her 90s) loved Disney. She watched the movies, adored the characters and lined up cuddly toys around her bedroom. Look carefully and on occasion you might have spotted her wearing Mickey Mouse socks!
My family decided to honour Granny (great-granny of course to my children) by wearing their own piece of Disney as part of their mourning outfit. I chose a brightly coloured silk scarf adorned with pop-art style Mickeys, the girls wore Micky Mouse head shaped earrings and the boys wore Disney socks.
My eldest wore a fabulous Disney bow tie which Granny would have loved and as the service came to an end the beautiful music from Dumbo, "Baby of Mine" played gently into the church. I'll never be able to hear that music again without crying......
Anyway. Long story short the whole thing rekindled a long-held desire of mine to take my youngest children to Disneyland Paris. I went with my mum and my eldest two when it first opened and have revisited a couple of times for day trips during camping holidays in France but my youngest three have never been.
It seemed an impossible dream but if you know anything about Disney you will know that dreams can come true and so August found me in Disneyland Paris with my five youngest children and my mum.
Mum had already booked flights from her home in Cyprus to attend a wedding and visit her mum in the UK before she died, so wanted to do something special with the time she had hoped to share with Granny.
I'm so glad we decided on Disney. The kids had a whale of a time and although me and mum tried not to cry too much every time we saw or heard something which reminded us of Gran we had some precious moments remembering her.
A truly special moment was when we all climbed aboard the Dumbo ride in glorious sunshine and soared high. "This one's for you Gran" we all shouted! I'd like to think she was looking down on us and chuckling.
I took loads of photographs and promised my mum (who lives in Cyprus) I would make her a disc or memory stick with them all on to show her friends and family when she returned to the island.
However I never got round to it while she was here so decided to send her a parcel with a memory stick of photographs plus some Disney-related goodies to make her smile - I won't tell you what I put in the parcel as I want it to be a surprise!
Gifts bought, jiffy bag stuffed, I visited Parcel2Go online to organise sending her package of happy memories. I loved a blog post on the site which revealed more people tend to send digital communications to friends and family overseas with very few opting to send an actual letter or a parcel.
It's sad isn't it? One of the things I love most about being a blogger is that I regularly receive letters and parcels. Actual, exciting papery letters and parcels making each delivery feel like Christmas or a birthday.
Waiting for emails to load can't really compare with ripping open packaging and revealing something inside can it? And there's often the bonus gift of bubble wrap or those squeaky packaging nuggets which my children love to play with.
Anyway. Parcel2Go are campaigning to bring back snail mail. Unsurprising being as their business rather relies on it I suppose but it's a campaign I support because I know how much pleasure you can get receiving - or even sending-a parcel or letter.
And (excuse the pun) but it is worth thinking outside of the box when it comes to sending international mail- you can find services for every size and shape of mail to just about anywhere in the world and if you know where to look you can save a lot of money too!
What I hadn't realised before visiting the Parcel2Go site is that you can even get the parcel you are sending picked up by the courier from your house! That certainly beats lugging a heavy or unwieldy box to the post office or collection point.
So. Look out Mum - your parcel is winging its way to you. As soon as it arrives in Cyprus I will post an update here revealing what I posted using the UPS Express Saver service - just one of the many delivery options available on the Parcel2Go site.
I can't wait to see what she thinks of my gifts.
Disclaimer: I received free postage for my parcel from Parcel2Go in return for this review of their service. Views and opinions remain honest and my own.
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| Me and Granny on her 90th birthday in 2014. |
My family decided to honour Granny (great-granny of course to my children) by wearing their own piece of Disney as part of their mourning outfit. I chose a brightly coloured silk scarf adorned with pop-art style Mickeys, the girls wore Micky Mouse head shaped earrings and the boys wore Disney socks.
Anyway. Long story short the whole thing rekindled a long-held desire of mine to take my youngest children to Disneyland Paris. I went with my mum and my eldest two when it first opened and have revisited a couple of times for day trips during camping holidays in France but my youngest three have never been.
It seemed an impossible dream but if you know anything about Disney you will know that dreams can come true and so August found me in Disneyland Paris with my five youngest children and my mum.
Mum had already booked flights from her home in Cyprus to attend a wedding and visit her mum in the UK before she died, so wanted to do something special with the time she had hoped to share with Granny.
I'm so glad we decided on Disney. The kids had a whale of a time and although me and mum tried not to cry too much every time we saw or heard something which reminded us of Gran we had some precious moments remembering her.
A truly special moment was when we all climbed aboard the Dumbo ride in glorious sunshine and soared high. "This one's for you Gran" we all shouted! I'd like to think she was looking down on us and chuckling.
I took loads of photographs and promised my mum (who lives in Cyprus) I would make her a disc or memory stick with them all on to show her friends and family when she returned to the island.
However I never got round to it while she was here so decided to send her a parcel with a memory stick of photographs plus some Disney-related goodies to make her smile - I won't tell you what I put in the parcel as I want it to be a surprise!
Gifts bought, jiffy bag stuffed, I visited Parcel2Go online to organise sending her package of happy memories. I loved a blog post on the site which revealed more people tend to send digital communications to friends and family overseas with very few opting to send an actual letter or a parcel.
Waiting for emails to load can't really compare with ripping open packaging and revealing something inside can it? And there's often the bonus gift of bubble wrap or those squeaky packaging nuggets which my children love to play with.
Anyway. Parcel2Go are campaigning to bring back snail mail. Unsurprising being as their business rather relies on it I suppose but it's a campaign I support because I know how much pleasure you can get receiving - or even sending-a parcel or letter.
And (excuse the pun) but it is worth thinking outside of the box when it comes to sending international mail- you can find services for every size and shape of mail to just about anywhere in the world and if you know where to look you can save a lot of money too!
What I hadn't realised before visiting the Parcel2Go site is that you can even get the parcel you are sending picked up by the courier from your house! That certainly beats lugging a heavy or unwieldy box to the post office or collection point.
So. Look out Mum - your parcel is winging its way to you. As soon as it arrives in Cyprus I will post an update here revealing what I posted using the UPS Express Saver service - just one of the many delivery options available on the Parcel2Go site.
I can't wait to see what she thinks of my gifts.
Disclaimer: I received free postage for my parcel from Parcel2Go in return for this review of their service. Views and opinions remain honest and my own.