Hi Guys....
How is your weekend going? Mine is almost over but the silver lining is the children go back to school tomorrow. Oh how I love these big girls but I am happy for them to head back so we can all have a little balance. I still have the smallest one at home so I won't be completely without companionship.
I have a layout to share today... I actually did the layout two weeks ago but have been in two minds about sharing it. It's been a bit of a hard one, an emotional one but really a necessary one. It's part of our story as a family.
I did it for the challenge over at
Creative Scrappers, to do a page without any photos.
Here is the sketch....
And here is my page......
The journaling reads:
Tonight as I drove the children back to our broken home and broken lives, I talked to them about the earthquakes. About how this time it wasn't just things, it was our people, our families, our community that were hurt. It broke my heart but I had to explain to them that some Mum's and Dad's had died.
I asked them what do you think we need to do to get through this together. Olivia piped up from the backseat and said 'We need courage Mama'. I asked her 'What is courage Olivia?' She responded with - 'It's being afraid but doing it anyway.' Amen. Courage is exactly what we would need.
I'm in tears just typing up the journaling, so you can imagine it was a bit of a process actually getting through the making of a page.
The journaling that is inside the file folder:
I didn't know at this point how hard this would all be, that the shakes wouldn't stop for years, that we would be without a toilet for 6 months. Power and water would be intermittent for a long time. That everything that was once our everyday, our routine was no longer possible, no longer there. No kindergarten, no library, no swimming pool, no parks, no footpaths even. I'm pleased I didn't know how exhausted we would all be, how heartbroken and sad we would all be, how brave and strong we would have to be. How I would have to rely on every little bit of strength I had to be a positive example to these children, when in fact I was in despair and doing my crying in the shower. I'm pleased because knowing now I don't know if I would have come back.
At the time I never thought of leaving. I thought everyone can't leave, we need to stay and help. What would happen to our city and who would be here to build it back up. I didn't know the struggles then, the worrying, I was still in shock. The grief and the loss didn't come until much later. We will never be the same again. Still now 3 years later, we are holding onto hope.
Thank you
Hayley
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