When I posted my last blog in December I was full of optimism for the following year. Little did I know that my wonderful, lovely Mum would be diagnosed with lung cancer. Although I have done some lovely things this year, like a special Valentines Day in London, there was always an undercurrent of fear about Mum’s health. My worst fears were realised  when Mum passed away on August 20th 2017.  I so very much miss my Mum and I’m always trying to support my Dad, albeit at a distance, but as others have said to me it is still early days. In the last months I have frequently found myself getting up in the morning full of good intentions, but on the days that I’m on my own I’ve been wanting to crawl back under my duvet.  Not surprisingly my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and gastroparesis have flared up and my diabetes feels like it has a mind of its own. I’ve withdrawn from people but I am trying to, as they say, “move forward”. One thing that has helped is writing a “Happiness Journal” where each day I try to note down some positives about the day. They may be as simple as having watched Cold Feet or more fun, like watching the musical Legally Blonde or practising the piano. The journal gives me something to look back on to highlight that there have been positives. Now I want to add to the journal by increasing my writing which I’ve been finding difficult to do. But today was a move forward with a section written for the Susie book and starting to write this blog again – and, of course, I will write about these in my Happiness Journal today.