In many ways, this visit has been much like those in the past -- and in others, it's completely different.
This is our first Christmas without my father-in-law, who passed away last December 27. The first year being the hardest, I felt it was important for my husband and daughter to spend the holiday here.
What has struck me the most is how life goes on. My mother-in-law is doing amazingly well. Of course, she is a very matter-of-fact woman, no drama queen tendencies there. What good is it to emote endlessly about your loss? (Which is what I would be doing.) As I said, life goes on. And everything here feels very normal -- except for the void left by my father-in-law, which expresses itself in unexpected ways.
In the meantime, we are enjoying catching up with my brother- and sister-in-law and their three boys. My sister-in-law has two other nieces visiting from London. The older girl is the same age as Megan (their birthdays are about one week apart), and all six children are getting on like gangbusters. It is wonderful to watch Megan just fitting in, as if she's been here all her life (which she has, but only for a few weeks every 18 months or so). She even got invited to a Christmas party last night, at the gym here in Cardiff where she has been training on our visits.
A couple of days ago, we all went down to Cardiff's "New" Theatre (which was actually opened in 1906) to see this year's pantomime production, "Jack and the Beanstalk." In the last few years, Cardiff has become something of a media center, largely due to the fact that the new version of Doctor Who is produced by BBC Wales -- so this year's panto stars someone who I've actually seen on television. John Barrowman had a memorable role in the first new Doctor Who series and has been spun off into a series of his own. He's also an American transplant -- and I have to say it was kind of funny to hear the silly lines of the panto delivered by someone with an American accent.
A number of Yank actors are doing panto in Britain this season, including Patrick Duffy and Henry Winkler, so this may be becoming a trend. I can understand why it would appeal to them -- they get to be on the stage doing light physical comedy for a very short run -- with none of the pressure that would come from doing a play on Broadway. Who knows? Maybe someone will mount a successful panto in the States some time.
More tomorrow (I hope). In the meantime, check out my husband's photos here. (I have to charge my own camera up so I can take some more of my own)
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