WELCOME TO THE NEW YEAR

2009 was a very good year for me and despite the fact that Professor Poole, my oncologist says I will have to start chemo again in the Spring, I am optimistic that 2010 will bring happiness and opportunities, if not a few challenges my way.

John and I welcomed in the New Year with our friends Jean and Ray in Llandudno at a great dinner dance.

Our friends Carol, Val, Jean and Ray

The next day despite copious champagne we awoke ready to tackle a walk around the Great Orme. Llandudno basked in brilliant sunshine, but the Snowdonia range was covered in snow. We had our photo taken in front of an old cannon that has stood on the Great Orme for a long time pointing across the sea towards Snowdonia. Sadly it no longer stands outside The Rest and Be Thankful Tearooms. Unbelievably, it was it was stolen a couple of weeks later. Maybe my photo was the last one ever taken of the cannon. It is beyond my comprehension that anyone could deprive the good people of Wales of such a monument, but I do hope they find it and restore it to it's rightful resting place.

John and I came home to find Solihull gripped in thick snow and very late one night I looked out of our window to see 2 perfect hearts in the snow.I am so pleased I took a photo because the next day they had disappeared beneath a fresh snowfall and I was probably the only one to see them.

I also came home to have a scan at the small, friendly Hospital of St.Cross in Rugby. What a difference to the large impersonal hospitals who treat you like a number instead of a person. I always say a prayer as I go through the scanner and now the long wait for the results starts. Once I used to really get anxious during the wait, now I just get on with my life.

One of my New Year resolutions was to get fit, along with a few other thousands of people who probably made the same one. My friend, Sandra had arranged for me to have a trial day at her local Sports Club, so what better time to start. I had a lovely morning swimming, testing out the gym and the sauna. At the end when the Management came to discuss me joining their club, I was amazed when they said they had never heard of my friend. In horror I realised that there are 2 David Lloyds and I was at the wrong one. Never mind I had enjoyed my day there & I could now go and try the right one next!

January and February are never good months for me, something always sad or bad seems to happen and I always heave a sigh of relief when March arrives. This year was no exception, 2 dear friends died. The first, Val O'Hare had valiantly tried to fight ovarian cancer for 5 years She still held her yoga and salsa classes whilst going through gruelling chemo, but sadly even her strong spirit and sense of fun couldn't save her, but she is one of the many inspirational people I have met on my journey with cancer who I won't forget. Even on this photo last year when she was ill, her joy of life seems to shine through.

Val is standing in the middle

2 weeks later I was at my friend Rex's funeral. A month earlier, to the day, we had celebrated his 90th birthday and after such a happy day who would have believed it. I was asked to give his eulogy and I always consider this to be such an honour. I researched his history and realised that despite nearly 30 years of friendship, there was so much I didn't know about this quiet modest man, including his career in the R.A.F. during the war years.

Rex's 90th Birthday

I cheered myself up with a new haircut, and the first time in 9 years since I lost my hair 3 times to chemo, I have found a hairdresser in Knowle who really understands my hair. It had grown back so thin and fine, but In her skilful hands it looked stylish, full bodied and healthy. Even my husband noticed and said how good my hair looked. The sad thing is that if I start chemo in April, I will lose it again just when I found someone who has got it right. Oh well, I'll just have to enjoy it while I can.

My friend Debbie and I took my 2 grandchildren Ben and Nicky to see The Snowman at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. It was magical and to see the wonderment in my grandchildrens' eyes as the Snowman and the boy fly across the night sky and to see their excitement as the snow cascades in the auditorium at the end, made me realise that for every sad event we experience, a joyous one is just waiting for us around the corner.