Getting back on track

It's...been a while
Blogging here has not been my priority as family matters overtook everything this summer. Paul's dad became very ill and Paul flew over to England to help care for him. Jim, his dad, died at home and we all flew over for the funeral. It has been a tough summer in many ways.

Reasons to be thankful
Family is important, always, but never as important as during difficulties and heartbreak. We are very blessed with our family. Grief is lessened when shared and interwoven with love, remembered good times and sheer practical help. Our friends, too, have been wonderful and the many messages we received from all over the internet have helped us through. Thank you all very much. I am also very grateful for the support and understanding of my consultancy clients, especially Paul Best from the fantasy webseries, 'Border Guardians of Ackernon'. Check out their website and their Koldcast site - Season 1 is well under way and very exciting.

Getting back to the new normal
Losing someone means that life will never the same. It's a time to reflect and look at priorities and plans. One thing we are both determined to do is to finish 'Mind My Brains, Darling!' Season 1 and so we are now back in production to get the last two episodes out. I have a lot to catch up on. I have not even watched one episode of The Guild Season 5 yet. I'm waiting until I can really sit down and enjoy it.

Upcoming events
We will also be at two Cons in the coming weeks  - VCON in Vancouver and Geek Girl Con in Seattle. More about those very soon.

Explanations and Exhortations

Finding the words
First off, thank you all for your well-wishes. I know I left suddenly, it was unavoidable. I wasn't sure whether to just pretend nothing had happened and start Blogging again or whether it was best to offer an explanation. In the end I decided on a compromise - a short explanation.

Sad times
I had been keeping a secret. I was pregnant and nearing the 12 week mark, the magic time when it is usually safe to reveal the news because the threat of miscarriage is lower then. Unfortunately I had had a couple of problems and my doctor recommended a scan. At the scan I found out that the baby was no more and I had to go into hospital. It was a brutal shock amplified by being a long way from my family in England. It has taken some time to come to terms with it all, and that is an on-going project.

Future times
But....I have a family, have children, have friends, a wonderful husband and lots of support. I'm taking it slowly but I will rejoin my online activities. Events like this can make you feel like you are on the outside, puts a barrier between you and other people. I don't want that to happen. Miscarriage is a painful fact of life - it happens to many women, couples, families. Everyone copes with grief in different ways but one thing I do know is this: it always helps when someone tries to express sympathy. Even if your expression of sympathy doesn't come out the way you intended, or seems to make the other person upset, the fact that you tried to comfort them and offer support is much better than avoiding the subject. Pretending it didn't happen simply makes it harder to deal with for everyone.

Better times
So that's the deal. It's been difficult but getting better. I will be starting to Blog again soon. Remember to keep reaching out to people, and thanks again for all the support. Peace.