Yesterday I held the last in person meeting in my home for the time being, due to family illness.
It was with a very heavy heart I told those present at the meeting, it was particularly difficult as we had several new members joining us for the first time.
I knew that conversation was going to be hard, just didn’t realise just how hard.
For 16 years Marc and I have welcomed complete strangers into our home offering a hand of support for grandparents who are facing the living bereavement that is estrangement from family members, with tea and cake thrown in!
Some of those grandparents who were strangers have now become lifelong friends, some who were here yesterday have been with us from the very beginning, we have walked beside each other through the highs and the lows.
Everyone who has ever attended our meetings, be that just once or who have become regulars have all played such an important role in helping grandparents along their journey, and it is a journey.
Together we have mopped up tears, we have shared laughter as well.
Tears of despondency and the joy of reconciliations.
Reflecting on the last 16 years I am so grateful to everyone I have met, so grateful for facing my fears to do interviews on all media, to meet up with Dame Esther Rantzen, one of our patrons, and to appear on The One Show with her and many of our members of BGSG, if I had not asked Esther if she would like to write a message for our Tree of Hope, and her asking Marc and I to go and meet her in London the features on The One Show would never have happened. Our thoughts of course are with Esther and we wish her well.
I was then introduced to the amazing, wonderful Erin Pizzey our other patron, whose experience has been invaluable and the support she has given to me personally is something I am eternally grateful for.
Of course there is a very important person who actually was the catalyst to the last 16 years, she is the reason BGSG exists.
Our beautiful granddaughter.
When we found ourselves not being able to see her, I had to somehow turn a negative into positive, and so BGSG was born.
I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen, initially 6 grandparents arriving to my first meeting has now grown to over 8,000 grandparents contacting BGSG.
Someone who was at the meeting yesterday said to me today,” I had no idea how important BGSG has become to me.”
One of our aims was to enable grandparents to set up their own groups in their areas, and to date there are 13 groups across the UK. Each and everyone of them are truly life savers, all giving of their time freely.
BGSG is not disappearing, I will continue with zoom meetings, running our Helpline, responding to email contacts and administrate the FB pages, we also hope to be able to have in person meetings in a changed venue.
The most wonderful aspect of what I do is when grandchildren are reunited with their grandparents, and there have been many.
This weekend another family were reunited after many years, and the smiles on the faces in the photo say everything. It is not about what has happened in the past but a new beginning, a time to get to know each other, a fresh start and a future for all.
Thank you to everyone who has made BGSG what it is today.
