Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well. It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for another post in the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge hosted by Long and Short Reviews. If you want to join in the challenge, you can find the topics for 2026 here, and if you’d like to read other people’s responses to this week’s topic, you can find them here.
A Few Happy Memories from My Life
At the ancient old age of 39 (40 in July!) I’ve had quite the turbulent life, pockmarked by trauma, grief and mental illness and for a long time, I believed I would never be happy. However, thankfully, I was wrong! Below, I invite you to share in some of my happiest memories.
The Day We Rescued Our Dog, Sash
I was eleven years old when I convinced my parents to take in a dog my older brother had rescued from a man who was abusing her. She was eleven months old at the time, and she was so frightened and timid. And, for much of my life from eleven onward, so was I, and so we bonded instantly. We were together for eighteen years before she departed. That was twelve years ago, and I still miss her every single day.
The Birth of my Nephews
When my first nephew was born, I didn’t know I would grow to love him as though he were my own. In fact, at first, I was irritated by the constant presence of this tiny squawking creature who needed constant attention from anyone who’d give it. But as time went by, and the more time we spent together, he became like my shadow.
When my second nephew was born, I felt the same way. I knew I’d be called upon for babysitting duties, and I thought I’d be frustrated because I never wanted kids of my own—I don’t really like the way kids cry and scream and are incessantly… there. But as with my first nephew, I changed. I loved babysitting.
My husband and I would find ourselves entertaining him with books and cartoons (Fireman Sam was his favourite!) and crawling around on the floor with him as he investigated his surroundings. Very quickly, I came to love both my nephews and would do anything for them.
The Day We Fostered Our Nephew
When my first nephew was 13, we found ourselves being asked to take him in and foster him. It was, of course, a no-brainer. We love him and couldn’t bear to see him spend another night in a strange foster home where he’d call daily, begging us to come and get him.
It’s hard to try to explain to a sobbing 13-year-old that you can’t just take someone out of foster care and that there are rules we have to follow.
Finally, after all the months of checks, parenting classes, interviews and all the other hoops you have to jump through (rightly so), social services brought him home, and, a little later, we became his legal guardians. It was one of the best days of our lives.
The Day I got Married
The day my husband and I got married was another one of the happiest days of my life—although the Covid pandemic threw a spanner in the works of our original plans.
Initially, we were supposed to get married on Christmas Eve, but alas, the UK government decided to have another lockdown. So, we received a call explaining that our marriage had to be rescheduled for a later date.
However, we received another call a little later to say there had been a cancellation, and, though it was short notice, would we accept October 24th instead?
It was six weeks away, but that didn’t matter because we’re not big gathering/party type people and only planned to have our witnesses and nephews there, so we accepted. Because of this, my husband and nephew came up with an idea: since we were supposed to get married at Christmas, why don’t we make October 24th the start of our holiday season?
So, on October 24th every year, as a mark of celebration, we bring out our Christmas tree and put it up. At first, I wasn’t so sure, but now I actually really love it. It’s our very own special tradition.
Well, this has been post 16! I’m looking forward to reading about all of your happy memories!
As always, thanks for spending your time with me today.
Until next time,
George
© 2026 GLT
Categories: life, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge
GEORGE L THOMAS 
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