Gransnetters share what lockdown has made them feel grateful for with McCarthy & Stone

I am grateful for the lovely weather and the walks I have been on seeing nature at it's best - wild flowers, butterflies etc.
whatsapp messages from friends and family have brightened my days. My garden has been a delight, although hard work!. Recently being able to see my daughters and grandson again in person. In the last week being able to go for a coffee (sitting outside) and finally being able to go to church again. I can't complain x

I've been grateful for my garden, its helped me to get outside in the fresh air and its kept me motivated as a project to complete. Thank goodness the weather has been pretty decent so we've had plenty to focus on from installing a new fence, painting the decking and looking after the lawn and flower beds.

I am very grateful that my DH and family have so far stayed free of Covid19.
I am also very grateful that the internet has enabled me to keep in touch with relatives and friends who live further away

My family my home and my garden

While I have been shielding ,my daughter and son-in-law have shown concern for my wellbeing and practical help.I have been getting frequent phone calls,videos,photos,not to mention essential groceries and medication.In fact I have been quite spoilt.

Lockdown has made me grateful for a close and loving family

I am grateful for my garden which kept me sane because I could go out into the fresh air anytime I wanted.
I am grateful to the workers who kept everything going during the lockdown. People we take for granted but are essential and we all lean on them without knowing it.
Of course, our NHS and front line workers.

I am grateful that I, my family and my friends are all safe and have kept well or a healing well.
I am grateful for technology that has kept us connected.
I am grateful to the people who are working through this pandemic.
I am grateful for bosses who has put the safety and health of their employees before profit.
I am grateful that my income continued so that I can pay my bills.
I have learned that it is nice to relax and take time for myself.
I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends.

I am so grateful that I have such a lovely, caring husband who always makes me laugh. He said to me that he wouldn't have wanted to be in lockdown with anyone else but me and that is exactly how I feel too. We celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary in May, we obviously couldn't go out, so we ordered a nice meal from a Thai restaurant and dressed up for the occasion. I feel very lucky that I met such an amazing person when I was only 17 years old. I knew he was different from anyone else I'd ever met and thankfully I ignored all the people who said we were too young to get married!

It has given me time to grieve, as my Daughter, a Keyworker died in April, aged 47, leaving my 4 Grandchildren without a Mum. I was just improving from losing my Husband three years ago, my Son & my Mum have also died, so am now thinking what next! I have to keep going for my Grandchildren's sake, but this isolation has helped me to get my head around it all, my little dog & many good friends have been my support.

I am grateful for spending time with my daughter. She has special needs and doesn't talk much. So I just sat with her and talked and talked to get her to open up more.

I’m really grateful for our village community. People have been helping others out like never before. I haven’t needed any help myself but it is good to know help is just a phone call away. I’m also grateful for our village shop, which we have used a lot recently, it’s just a five minute walk away and stocks almost everything we need.

I'm grateful to my 2 girls who live with me and keeping me sane or.mbetally challenged with their school work. Also my other 4 who don't live with me but always keeping in touch either by phone, text, WhatsApp etc. Grateful for my colleagues in the care home where we work for always being supportive with my anxiety issues. I've learnt to appreciate everything so much more and taking small steps to enjoy everyday and not get too stressed over little things. Apart from being lockdown, I love spending time with my girlie's and will miss having them around when school or life gets back to normal.

I’m grateful that all my lovely family are Well and haven’t had this horrendous virus, so grateful to the nhs staff and key workers that are doing such a tremendous job must be so very difficult for them, grateful that my iPad hasn’t given up the ghost as I’m using it even more than normal. Grateful to my wonderful husband my best friend, for being the man that he is, grateful that I’ve still got the contact with my lovely friends

As a key worker I have been greatful to have been able to have worked all the way through. My work became my social life and my social life went virtual. I am greatful for the whatsapp groups I have belonged to where groups of friends have supported each other through the highs and lows. I have enjoyed regular video calls with family and the many photos and videos shared. I have appreciated nature on my walks, the flowers, the birds singing and the other regular walkers on my route who I didn't know before lockdown. I have appreciated the good effect staying indoors has had on our planet and feel saddened that this may not continue. When first allowed to travel I went to the coast and appreciated the sight, sound and smell of the sea even more than before. I have appreciated all the other key workers out there, our frontline workers putting others before themselves. Travelling around for my job I appreciated the rainbows in people's windows, they made me smile and feel that I was not alone and that I was appreciated. This has given us time to reflect and realise what things are really important in life, family, friends, community, looking after each other and this planet we inhabit. I hope we can continue in our appreciation of these things

I am grateful for the fact that my partner works for the NHS and has therefore been working throughout the pandemic, so that financially we are ok. I am grateful that my mother is still in lockdown in her care home and is safe, even if it means I can’t visit her for the foreseeable future, as she’s 300 miles away. I am grateful that although myself, my partner and son, have all been ill, that after 3 months we are finally starting to feel more like our old selves. I have friends who have been much more affected by their loved ones being hospitalised, so realise that we have been lucky in comparison.
However, I can’t wait for my son to be able to see his cousins again, probably in October; or for my partner to be allowed to return to his workplace even for just one day a week. I look forward to being able to resume my volunteering, even if it is next year.

Very grateful for my health & keeping my wonderful husband safe. Also to have a roof over our heads & a nice garden, happy cats( 2 rescues that a very spoilt!) Most of all a working NHS that is there if we need it.

My loving daughter and her family, very good friends and an excellent hip surgeon who replaced my hip with no problems, just before lockdown.

I have a new-found gratitude that I've always been a bit of an "oddball" so being on my own so much during lockdown hasn't really been a problem for me. A good friend really struggled with the lack of social life - she was used to going out at least three evenings a week with various groups of friends...

I’m grateful for the fact that I haven’t had to live like Anne Frank and her family lived for two entire years, never able to go out for any reason at all, never able to see or even hear from other members of their family, only able to eat whatever was brought, crammed into small quarters with others, no privacy, not able to move or even flush the toilet until the evening when the office workers had gone home. Yes, we all have a lot to be grateful for in these times.

So much to be grateful for at this difficult time for everyone. My husband, my garden, the big bag of library books, telephone and facetime to keep in touch with family and friends. Also lovely friends in our village who have helped with shopping and collecting medication. So grateful for those who empty our bins every week, the man who has kept on delivering our papers/magazines, everyone at the supermarket and delivery drivers. So much to be thankful and grateful for and to so many.

I’m grateful to my allotment. I would say it has kept me sane during the lockdown. The fresh air and exercise are both beneficial to my physical and mental health and now as the delicious fresh fruit and vegetables are being harvested I have the joy of eating fresh, unadulterated foods.

Our daughters were both overwhelmed with working from home and homeschooling their Primary aged children so DH and I took over the schooling about three weeks in to Lockdown. We have spent 2/3 hours each weekday morning on WhatsApp and FaceTime helping the four GC with the work sent from their schools. We have all enjoyed it so much - we helped our DDs and were kept busy. In spite of not physically seeing our GC, the bond we had with them is stronger than ever. We are grateful for this opportunity that Lockdown created and we will all look back on the last few months with very fond memories.

I'm so grateful for my life, my wonderful husband, my children and grandchildren, my garden and all the fantastic technology that enabled us all to keep in touch during this awful time. Very grateful and appreciative!

Having my daughter at home!