Three months

Today it's three months since Grant's been gone.

As you can imagine, life changed 360 ° for me. 

Once the funeral at the end of November and the memorial service the next day was over, for me, it was business as usual . I returned to work at the beginning of December and in retrospect I realize it was the best thing I could've done. 

Grant was well-known here in the center where I run an art and gift shop. I can't tell you how the community has supported me, starting with the people whom I see for eight hours a day. My friends on the veranda (as we refer to each other) are a different set from the friends I know in the valley, through Probus, through the walking club and through Parkrun.  These again, have popped in from the first to say hello, sometimes to buy a gift or a tub of the immune booster health product which I sell or to bring me a treat! A local farmer and his son, who got to know Grant through Probus, bring me vegetables in season from their crops. 

In between, regular as clockwork, John or Debbie and the children call in and spend time with me. How blessed is that! 

On the personal front, I'm coping. 

I have to. I now have to do everything myself.

Grant used to love to run errands for me especially when it involved driving around. Now I have do the grocery shop myself;  I had to license my car on my own last week; I have to get to the bank to draw money on my own. But as my friend, Jenny said this morning when she and Ant popped in after their hike with the walking club, it's all character-building. 

Knowing Grant for 50 years and living with him for almost all that time, we thought the same; we both loved the outdoors; we birded for many years together while living in Africa and we loved to tour South Africa and neighboring countries on the motorbike. I often catch myself thinking "when Grant comes in from his building project, I'll tell him..."

As I mentioned on my birthday, I had several firsts over the past months. But by the grace of God, I've got through them. I have one more left...

Another thing, with the digital age we live in today, I have literally hundreds of photos of Grant taken over the years. I even came across a video of him while in Tanzania. So he'll live on forever in my heart and my mind.

 Grant with Alan (left) and Ant on the right while on a hike in the mountains last February

Thanks to all my blog friends for the love and support I've received from you;  via blogger, via Facebook and through e-mails. You've been patient when I can't - due to time constraints - always comment on your posts and for this I'm very grateful. 

With this very different world that I live in now, I am linking my post to Our World Tuesday here

A great day to you all!