Looking forward to the next few months?

Startingover61

Inspired by 100-year-old Mr Peter Davies, I’m also applying to volunteer to listen to primary school children reading.
I agree with previous posters about life being too short to be bored.

This is something I have been doing for one morning a week since I retired. It really lifts my spirits. The kids (7/8) are lovely and teachers always very appreciative. Hope you enjoy.

When I first retired, I volunteered to help 5 and 6 year old's with their reading. I was also asked to assist on school trips. It was lovely.

Bankhurst

Not looking forward to very much, I’m afraid. My husband died unexpectedly in November, and all our plans just disappeared. His 80th birthday celebrations, holidays, theatre visits, days out. I hope that my interest in them will return one day but for now I don’t want to go alone and going with someone else feels worse.
Best wishes to all those of you who have happier prospects.

I'm am sorry - I lost my daughter unexpectedly in November too and am where you are at plus I have no money, and you can't have much of a life without it.

I was looking forward to my garden, it is up some steps which are to be honest too much for me and have been very slippery as I seem to be in a bit of a frost pocket and nothing thawed out until very recently. We laid my daughter's ashes to rest on Friday, (a robin stayed very close to us and even hopped into the hole with her), and Saturday it would have been her 30th birthday so we went to put flowers for her, sang Happy Birthday n the cemetery and the robin was there again, in fact someone actually managed to touch it. I did my own arrangement with flowers from Tescos, and had to go up the garden for some foliage ... the whole thing, that I had spent money on, looked dead. I didn't manage to cut back anything because I just couldn't manage it, and it looks just awful. Everything got very heavily frosted and it looks as though I have lost rather a lot of it. It was a hard weekend, but, as everyone was here we actually had a party for her. Her personality was always very 'big' with extremes of happiness or desperate sadness - so it was loud! We played all her favourite show tunes as she loved musical theatre and had a damned good sing-a-long and dance ... she would have loved it.

Now everyone has gone though and Ii am left alone with my thoughts, and generally disbelief about the whole thing, there's not much to look forward to at all. Sending hugs ...

MooM00

Bankhurst, I know how you feel my husband died in November. It would have been his 70th Birthday in February. Family still want to celebrate but I don’t think I can.

See my post *MooMoo, we did, and actually it was great and would have been what she wanted x

Looking forward to milder weather and to exploring more of the footpaths in our local area. There are hundreds!

Looking forward to seeing several live operas , seeing all my sons and family and the family camping hol , going to stay with friends in Germany , going to see son and partner in Romania , going to our house in France , getting our new settee after many years of sitting on an old one with sunken springs I re -upholstered myself over 3 years ( never doing that again ) -various gigs and festival stuff - quite a lot really so am lucky

Love all these positive posts
Looking forward to a friend’s birthday weekend
I also look forward to looking after my granddaughter on a Friday
I take her to toddler ballet and I forget that I am much older than all the mums there

So very sorry MadeinYorkshire. I hope you will be able to enjoy the spring flowers when the weather gets better,/and also the birds. A robin is a lovely friend. 💐

Well am in a more positive mood at the moment as have actually got the disability scooter here and am going gently to learn its particular foibles. Have driven them before and am a driver so have no worries on that score but now have a new set of things to look out for as it is both an on road and on pavement one so have two different speeds to use, now am in the process of "mapping" the local roads for the worst potholes and grates and broken tiles to avoid or get round carefully. Mentally have felt very low that I need to accept that I need it and could not pretend any longer that things would improve next week etc. But will get over that and am still going to do as much walking as I can but now will be able to use the buggy to do the boring bit and allow myself to walk in parks and gardens and at the moment am in my Galanthophiles excitement phase of snowdrops, snowdrops everywhere to enjoy coming up. I had over 80 different kinds in my last garden and miss them very much , but no matter will now enjoy looking at them in other peoples gardens. I have got my seat at the ready to get out in my small garden any day that it looks worth it, hope that I can start swimming again as have missed that for a couple of months. Then I hope to get to see my family soon , which the weather and situation has meant that we havent really got together for some time, so will hope to spend some quality time with my grandson. When there is a little more daylight I hope to plan a bit of a trip to see various friends where I may stay for a night with one person and do a b and b for another friend and of course I shall be taking those that have no car to see a garden or whatever they would like to do. My good friend Judy is having a hip operation at the end of february and I shall do what I can to help her at that time, but more importantly we have said once she feels up to it we shall go for a few days in a cottage with ground floor bedrooms and a hot tub. Love a hot tub to return to after a day out and we sit and chat and have a glass of wine . Very civilized . We had a very successful trip last year as we have similar interests and both enjoy a chinese meal , which on your own is not much fun, so have to face a cancer treatment in a fortnight but have all these things to look forward to.Probably wont get to do all or even half of the hoped for things but dont care. Today I am looking forward to things I enjoy. Have spent most of my life fitting in round family etc as no doubt we all have so you have to get one thing from being a widow and living alone. Now I can please myself and change my mind and I dont care if my clothes are years out of fashion and the decorating can wait. This summer while I feel able to attempt these things I am going to have a go!!

Since having my pesky gallbladder removed in September I'm really looking forward to a better diet as I gradually recover from pancreatitis. I'm getting there and it's great to feel well! I have teamed up with a couple of other widows to go to theatre and concerts which our husbands weren't interested in doing and we're loving it.

We have booked a holiday to the Caribbean in a week’s time. Since Covid we haven’t travelled and I feel so stressed in case we are ill. We are both currently getting over colds. Oh dear, the insecurity and impact of the last few years. Feeling so blessed but fearful.
On another note , VioletSky, I really feel for you. I was diagnosed with Graves disease at 50 ( am now 66.) Highs and lows but so glad you are now in remission. Big hugs to you x

I have been following this lovely thread and hesitating whether to join in, so many of you are coping with unbelievable sadness and worries, my heart goes out to you. So if I post how excited I am, please forgive me, but I can't stop it bubbling up!

Next month is our 50th wedding anniversary, and we are blowing the last of our travel savings on a trip to South Africa. We have saved up points to upgrade our flights to business class so that we can have flat beds. On the day of our anniversary we will toast each other at the Cape of Good Hope, staying in the fabulous 'Nellie', the Mount Nelson Hotel. As well as the Cape, We have booked tours to Table Mountain, Boulders Beach penguins, Robben Island, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, and I am sure there will be the odd wine tasting! One night we will go to the Gold Restaurant for an African dinner experience.

Then three nights on the Rovos Rail, the SA equivalent of the Orient Express, taking us to Pretoria. Two nights there to see the Cradle of Humankind, where the first humans were thought to have emerged from, and a romantic dinner on the roof of the Castello di Monte hotel.

The next day a flight to Victoria Falls, to see the Falls, walk with elephants, and take a sunset dinner cruise. Finally a flight back to Johannesburg for one last luxury hotel night, and a flight back to the UK.

On our return there will be a service at our Cathedral to have our refashioned rings blessed, with a family and friends lunch at a local restaurant.

After that we will be broke, with nothing much to look forward to, but we will have amazing memories. This has spent many months in the planning, and many times we have thought we should cancel and put money aside for the energy bills. I am sure that would be the sensible thing to do, but right now I am not feeling sensible, just very excited! I hope you will forgive me.

B9exchange, how absolutely wonderful. What fabulous experiences you having waiting around the corner. There is me, anxious about 2 weeks away. Thank you so much, your post is inspirational. I wish you blessings and joy xx

At 59!? That’s soo young!

In the immediate future it’s the garden, I love spring 😍
Sometime in June we will be bring a boat back from Nancy to the uk. We have spent a lot of time on the French canals so our experience will be useful to the skipper of the barge.
Then in September we are going to Hawaii all expenses payed for by my dear step daughter.

Looking forward to the unfolding of the year really! Long awaited Spring, warm summer days, beautiful Autumn and winter festivities. Life is quite uneventful now that I’m a bit older and on my own but I have my lovely children and grandchildren near me. Might get away on a few trips and would love to travel more if circumstances permit. I’m just looking forward not to have to worry about the heating anymore!

Thank you so much Lulu, bless you!

Sending hugs to all who are feeling down; hopefully the coming Spring weather will give us all a boost. So lovely and uplifting just to read about all your plans - I hope all your expectations are exceeded!
I'm lookingforward to my youngest son and his partner buying their first home after so many years working abroad and saving so hard. Cant wait for another summer with the grandchildren in the garden seeing everything through the fresh eyes of a four and two-year old, the lush peony blooms and tall agapanthus heads in shades of blue and white. I'm looking forward to starting my six week course of chemo which fingers crossed will slow down the continuous recurrence of tumours I've been having surgically removed since 2019.
I've been told I'll start chemo following my next surgery for which I'm on the waiting list since October so probably top of the list of things I'm looking forward to is to hear the plop of the hospital-stamped letter giving me my admission date.
This will be my fifth surgery for this cancer and I'm very lucky in that I have recovered well and feel reasonably well, well enough to take care of my two darling grandchildren two days a week... every Monday evening I set out the toys , sanitize the highchair and generally child-proof the place feeling very very blessed to continue to be able to be having such a lovely relationship with them.

I don't think too far ahead but every morning I thank god for another day.... each night I say a cheeky little prayer that I will still be doing this in a year's time enjoying just one more milestone in their precious little lives.
I have to say just to hear the two-year-old's little voice saying 'Nanny' & looking like she's just reached the end of the rainbow as she arrives at the door is more reason to live than I could have dreamed of and fills me with hope for the future.
Great to be able to share these thoughts with other grans .
Lovely thread thankyou OP 💐

How fabulous B9exchange. Good for you.

I would just like to say that the fact so many of us are posting details of lovely trips, family meet ups etc.etc. does not mean a large number of us do not have serious health or other worries to deal with.
We are not Pollyannas and do realise many posters have varying degrees of troubles, but for this thread we have in the main tried to be positive.

I am also going to see The King & I in March (Wycombe Swan)
looking forward to that.
Also going to Wales with my daughter and granddaughter to their caravan to reopen for the season in Feb - hope the weather is a bit warmer!
I lost my husband last November so really having to try very hard to look forward. Lets see how I get on....

Oh... forgot to mention Blood brothers in two weeks ( gift from son)
Andre Rieu in April ( my Christmas gift to recently bereaved lovely neighbour)
West Side Story in June ( gift from dh)

After several years without musical theatre this is hugely anticipated treasure indeed 😊

Yvonnebrown29 💐

Looking forward to see my family at Easter in the UK(I live in Australia) Can’t wait to see my Grandson and have proper fish and chips!!

Spring! 🙂