Just the quickest of family updates, including Hannah’s visit to Buckingham Palace!
My apologies if this is one of those cheesy, self indulgent posts; I wanted to capture it while things are fresh in my mind.
Hannah
Hannah has had a busy time of late. Having finished working at Plas Menai, North Wales in April she started working on the south coast, near Portsmouth. We have seen her a few times including her quick visit home so we could travel into London with her.
Hannah has achieved her Gold Duke of Edinburgh award! She was invited, alongside a good number of other young people, to receive their awards at Buckingham Palace. This was the culmination of the infamous hikes and camping trips with other teenagers. Gaining the award also involved learning new things, carrying out voluntary work and the personal growth which goes with that. There really is something for young people to gain from the jolly ol’ DofE.
Srtict instructions were sent to Hannah and Rachel about admission to the palace. As you can see, there is a significant Police presence with armed officers at the gate, albeit a little side gate to the palace gardens. Inside there was much pomp and it was such a memorable day wandering freely through the gardens. The actual award was by Emma Wiggs MBE while HRH mingled . Wiggs is a Paralympic athlete and recognised Hannah as a kayaker saying “I’ll look out for you at the Nottingham sprints!”.
Becky
This is also such a special time for Becky.
She has now finished her final third year exams in her university course and awaits the result, followed by graduation. I can imagine how this will always be such a special time in her life; stepping from a lifetime of being in education and now stepping out into the world as a young adult with her life ahead of her. She even delighted in throwing out all of her study notes etc (banking on not having to do any re-takes!).
Now she has completed her studies, she’s coming “home” for a few days before having a holiday with her housemates, who have all become close friends with each other.
And then we have her wedding to look forward to in August, such a wonderful thing to anticipate. I can feel the excitement rising in me for this and yet I know I’ll have a huge lump in my throat.
So for Rachel and I, we delight in seeing our girls take their early steps in the world as young adults. Their lives hold much promise even though their paths are very different. In some ways you could say the world has become quite scary compared to the early 1980s when we stepped out into the world. While the world is indeed scary, crazy and so on, it is also a fascinating world, full of beauty and wonder and there to be grasped.