In all honesty, I found the few weeks around my birthday particularly stressful. On top of my usual physical problems; unwanted memories, anxiety attacks and sleepless nights all occurring around a milestone birthday left me exhausted and frankly scared. At times I felt like a 12 year old again. But it was not all doom and gloom! There were some wonderful, joyous moments amongst the chaos; I was the birthday girl after all! My mum went above and beyond, not only to celebrate the day (or rather the week as it turned out to be) but to help me celebrate myself and to be proud of all that I am.
My amazing brother played a part too: his generosity, encouragement and SQL themed birthday card! And on the subject of cards, I received some lovely ones and several messages from friends (old & new) and family, including a special one from my dad.
Boring text part over, onto the photo highlights!
The big day (22nd March, Home)
I requested a banana and peanut butter cake, and my mum absolutely delivered. In addition there were peanut cookies, coconut balls, a lemon sponge, and chocolate covered figs. All home-made! Everything was gluten free and delicious. Oh, and she decorated. I was greeted in the kitchen by some helium balloons, including a unicorn. See what I mean about my mum going above and beyond? This is just the tip of the iceberg. She’d also booked us 2 nights in Llandudno, extending my birthday into a birthweek…
Llandudno (27-29th March)
- My mum’s friend drove us around some of the mountains, there were some absolutely stunning views. In fact, with the freshness of the air, it was quite literally breathtaking. There were also lots of sheep, v(ewes) if you will…
- She also gave me a beautiful charm bracelet for my birthday, a talisman.
- A seagull was after my olives, yes olives! My poor mum wanted a leisurely walk along the promenade whilst I was resting and snacking but she ended up having to chase away the thieving seagull instead!
- Sitting on the pebbles gazing out at the sea and listening to the waves, I felt the happiest I’ve felt in a very long time. And peaceful.
- I didn’t have much time to explore the town centre properly thanks to my still-tired body but my mum mentioned seeing some nice shops on some of her walks. I did however see a quirky Harry Potter/wizardly themed shop near our flat, and I simply had to look inside. I loved it!
- I also saw so many flowers! I would like to find out what the ones in the photo are called.
Easter Sunday (31st March, Home) Mum decorated eggs as is traditional in her culture around Easter. They were beautiful! We had them hard boiled as part of lunch. It was a lovely meal, and I loved how bright and colourful these eggs were.
Later in the afternoon we all went outside to the garden with the helium balloons from my birthday, and my brother & I released them. There was something incredibly liberating about letting go of them and watching them float away, becoming small specks in the sky. (Disclaimer: no unicorn balloons were harmed. Daisy remains safe and sound in the kitchen, getting on my mum’s nerves).
I said at the start that I’d had a stressful period, I won’t deny that. The trip away was extremely taxing for me physically and in turn, emotionally. I was exhausted and achy when I returned. There were so many fantastic moments though, I’ve only mentioned some of them.
April will be much slower paced, with more resting and less adventuring. The most important thing is that I’ve made a lot of progress. Slow and steady wins the race I guess. I’ve still got a way to go but I feel more confident than ever.
Rapunzel Journal 
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