A Very Sad Time

The last 24 hours have brought a mixed bag of feelings into Family Life at Number 2.  Yesterday afternoon the hubby and I received one of those phone calls you dread.  We heard the very sad news that the father of our sons friend had passed away.  It wasn't sudden, he had been suffering from MND (Motor Neurone Disease), but deeply saddening.  He was a truly inspirational man.  I can only ever aspire to be as inspirational as he was.  Until we knew him and the family neither of us had ever heard of MND.  It is a truly awful disease of which there is currently no cure.  Yet as a sufferer of MND Alistair raised so much awareness and funds for the charity during a difficult time.  It was incredible. 

This morning we told the children.  Tom was quiet and took it all in.  Lottie listened carefully and then asked lots of questions.  Discussing death at any age is tricky, Lottie aged 5 has asked lots of questions. She doesn't fully understand. She wants to know what happens, can people still open their eyes, if she wished hard enough would they come back, and why not?  As a parent it is a difficult conversation to have and I just hope that we have discussed it in such a way that the children aren't scared and feel able to ask any questions they want to. 

News like this makes you feel extremely lucky to have a healthy family.  I love them all so much.

We will continue to listen to the album Alistair made last year and support the MND association in memory of Alistair.  Our deepest sympathy and condolences are with his family.
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