a time to pause....

Maz' mum with our eldest grandson
(now 6 years old!)

you may have noticed how quiet the blog has been over the last month, or maybe you didn't, either way we wanted to update you on whats been happening since we arrived back from Madagascar.

well the long and the short of it is that we have mainly been spending valuable time with Maz' Mum (Judy) who sadly passed away last Monday evening at the Florence Nightingale hospice at Stoke Mandeville hospital.

it was amazing to be able to share the last few days with this incredible women who has been such an encouragement to us and it was also great that we have been hosted by Maz' sister (Viv) and brother-in-law (Mark) who live near enough to the hospice that we were able to walk up to see Judy.

capturing a young Judy

it's never easy to say goodbye but we are so thankful that Judy was well for us to fully engage with her and that we were able to share some further special times with her which included over these last few weeks. these included a visiting a local pub for a traditional english roast lunch with Maz and Viv, enjoying a fresh roast pork roll from the spit BBQ at the Whitchurch village Mayday feast and for us to make several visits to her at home prior to her admission into the hospice.

celebrating Judy's life with friends and family 

Maz and Viv have been a great support to each other too and for them to have this time together has also been very special. 

we are pleased to be able to continue to stop with Mark and Viv until our future plans become clearer.

there are so many memories we could share here but then again that might take you a few days to read through, so we'll end off by saying a huge thank you to all of you who have prayed or lifted us up during this time and please continue to think of Maz' Dad who is now having to cope without the love of his life 

below is a poem that I (Tim) wrote and read at the funeral.

Judy late last year......

Stop the world!

doesn't anyone know that earth has just lost an angel? 
Life continues on as before,
trains chug along their well set tracks,
planes scratch the sky with trails so white in their wake,

even the tiny birds sing their merry little songs 

Stop the world!
doesn't anyone know our love one has just passed away?
Life continues on as before,
children whoop with delight in their play,
cats sleeping for most of the day,
even the traffic lights still maintain their colourful cycle, red to amber, amber to green, then red and on again and on again

Stop the world!
doesn't anyone know our loved one has stepped across the thin line between life and death?
Life continues on as before,
babies cry for their milky bottles,
Church bells sound out their jolly peel,
even the clocks maintain their ticking and their tocking, tick, tock then tick then tock

Time and tide stop for no man although many have tried in vain and tried and failed again
So the grains of sand have all made their slow but steady way to the bottom of the hour glass
And now all we have are our memories,
of happier brighter more joyful days,
when summers were longer,
snows much deeper
and life was happy and gay

Stop the world!
Doesn't anyone know that our loved one has joined the throngs who've gone before at peace at last?
And life continues on as before,
but not for us,
not today,
today will always remain the day that you passed away!