When Life Gives You Lemons.....

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade" is a proverbial phrase used to encourage optimism and a can-do attitude in the face of adversity or misfortune. Lemons suggest bitterness, while lemonade is a sweet drink.

You may have noticed that for the past few months I’ve been absent on my blog and there’s a good reason for this.

Those of you who have followed my blogging journey will know, I started this blog about a year after we lost my Mum to lung cancer. She had always encouraged me, along with my husband to share my passion for more green and eco products and also to satisfy my love of writing. Her passing encouraged me to jump into the world of blogging and almost 3 years on from this blog’s beginnings, I still love writing here albeit a touch less than I’d prefer sometimes.

However, never in a million years did I think that less than 4 years after losing my Mum, I would have to say goodbye to my Dad too.

My father was unexpectedly taken into hospital recently whilst on his holiday abroad and when he came back to this country, he was sadly taken back in again. Less than 2 weeks later he passed away.

As a family our world has been rocked to its core. Losing one parent is hard enough, but losing both in a space of 4 years seems so cruel. I don’t normally share personal posts here. I tend to reserve those for my other parenting / lifestyle blog, however I felt the want to let you all know why I’ve been silent here recently.

One thing I learnt, which seemed so harsh at the time of my Mum’s passing, was that life carries on regardless of whether your world has stood still. I know that with time the pain we are all experiencing will ease and I will finally come to a sense of peace with it all. However, right now the flow of words for writing product reviews etc just isn’t there.

My online boutique is still open as usual and this is helping me to keep some focus in amongst the chaos of sorting out my father’s personal affairs (there’s always so much to do when someone dies!). Having young children also keeps you grounded and my girls are a main focus for me at the moment. You have to keep some sense of normality going at times like this, so the hope is I can keep it all together for them.

We are going on holiday for a week very soon, and I’m hopeful we can start the healing process during this time. Those lemons will be used to sweeten a few G&T’s along the way! And maybe we can reminisce and share the fond memories we have of my father and of my mother too.

There are brands out there who I owe a blog post to. If you’re one of them rest assured that I will be back in due course and I’ll be sharing your fabulous products with my readers. However right now, I need to rest, heal and come to terms with what’s happened to us as a family.

They say that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger; I hope that from all this I can emerge at peace with the world again and move forward with all the exciting plans I have for our future.

My father was integral in helping me set up my online boutique and my Mum encouraged me to start this blog. I truly hope they are proud of what I’m doing and that they’ll light my way forward for the future.

Until next time xx