Who’d have honestly thought I’d be starting my 5th Summer of this?!
School holidays have tended to be the hardest times for me I think. Not that any of it is particularly easy. Some of you will know that my family runs children’s activity camps during the school holidays. For as long as I can remember I either attended as a child or worked there. For six weeks of the Summer I’d be living in shorts and my purple t-shirt doing a job I absolutely adored! I’d be Queen of Reception and knew everything that needed knowing about the running of the camps.
 |
| The Last Summer. Bum-bag swag… |
The Summer of 2010 was perhaps the best, or maybe I’ve just attached so much meaning to it because it ended up being my ‘last Summer’.
For a long while school holidays could reduce me to tears. There was no escape from what I was missing out on. Distraction was hard because the house was full of equipment and paperwork and the phone was ringing constantly with customers making bookings. The feeling of being replaced is the hardest one I’d had to contend with in the last five years.
 |
| The happiest days |
This year though I have managed to contribute in perhaps the smallest way ever but it’s been celebrated as if I’d single handedly run all three sites by myself. Ahead of the Easter holiday camp I managed to sellotape some paperwork together!!!! My handwriting, which had been unrecognisable because of my weak M.E riddled arms, is now back to normal 99% of the time. And with my improved concentration I could trust myself enough to do some of the little admin bits that needed doing.
That was a few hours work one day. I am an incredibly, INCREDIBLY long way off from being employable aren’t I?! But this summer I managed to help again and over the course of three days I laminated about 30 pieces of paper!!!!!
 |
| Celebrating the ‘little’ things! |
It’s sad that the girl who could work from 8am until 6pm everyday and then go out socialising with my work friends now cannot even take phone bookings because phone calls require too much energy and concentration. Yet if I choose to focus on the two tiny but huge contributions I’ve made to the family business this year, I can’t help but feel incredibly accomplished and proud actually.
M.E. myself and I 