Good Riddance 2017

A friend messaged me a while back asking if I had done anymore on this blog or had she missed my posts and I told her that I hadn't done anything on here for ages.  She said she enjoyed reading them and I was a little surprised because I honestly thought that no one really took any notice of my ramblings and rants, but apparently people do so I thought it was about time I did some more.  I started this blog as a way to release my creativity and avoid the frustration I experience with other aspects of my life and as a way to deal with and manage my bouts of depression but just lately I seem to have slipped back into a very dark place and I'm struggling to find a way out.

Charlie

The last few months of 2017, will go down as the darkest and worst that I have ever encountered in my life and they certainly haven't helped with my depression or anxiety and fishing has been a long way down on my list of priorities.  The reason for this is that my 3 year old grandson, Charlie, was diagnosed with cancer in his bladder at the end of October, and he became the Number One priority in my life.  Life's little annoyances and issues pale into insignificance when faced with this sort of news and you adopt a much more balanced view on what is important and what isn't.  You have questions, everyone does when the 'C' word is mentioned, but once things are explained to you and you start to understand the condition then you kind of slip into auto-pilot and take each day as it comes.

I have found that a lot of the positive energy you need to deal with devastating circumstances like those we faced as a family come from those involved in the fight against this vile disease at the coalface.  My main source of positivity has been Charlie himself, and also my daughter-in-law Sophie and my son Jake.  They have dealt with the news that their little boy has this condition and they have just got on with it, remained positive for Charlie and kind of carried the rest of us along with them.  I have yet to meet two braver and stronger people than those two and they have been so inspirational to everyone with their attitude.  Yes, they have had moments when it's all seemed too much for them, but they have refocused and regrouped and came back stronger each time.

We are now at a point in Charlie's treatment where there is light at the end of the tunnel and in a few weeks time we are looking forward to him being free of this most disgusting and vile disease.  He's still got a long fight ahead of him, we must not lose sight of that, but Charlie has proved he's a fighter, a real little whirlwind battler who has kept us all positive with the smiles like the one in the photo.  I am so proud of the three of them and probably don't tell them often enough really.

I have lots of fishing trips planned with this little bundle of energy and hopefully will have lots more positive posts of our adventures on the bankside.....