The end of an era.

Last weekend was, without wanting to sound dramatic, the end of an era.

My dearest friend got married on Saturday in the most beautiful of settings (the photo shows the field above the church where we went for photos) and the day really was wonderful. The bride looked absolutely stunning, the weather could not have been more perfect and everyone had an absolutely amazing time. I cried as they walked back up the aisle to "we go together" from Grease, a film which will always remind me of being eight-years-old and the two of us dancing round my front room at a sleep over. But anyway, it really was a truly amazing day and the perfect start to what I am sure will be a very long and happy life together. I love you two!

The weekend was, however, even more amazing than that because earlier in the day, the last 17 years of my life finally came to an end.

You see, my Mum has often made my life difficult since my Dad left seventeen years ago. She has refused to be in the same room as him, spent hours slagging off him and his partner (whom she has affectionately named 'slag-bag'), told me that if I were to get married HE would not be invited, HE would not be coming to my graduation, she would not go to my Grandad's funeral because THEY would be there... and suddenly, this weekend, it all finished.

My Mum, after a discussion about my Dad and a few legal things which are happening between them, said the following:

"I don't hate your Dad."

"I don't hate (name) either" (She did say her actual name for the first time in 17 years, although for the sake of being anonymous I won't type it here)

"I have no objection to being in a room with them."

And suddenly every worry I have ever had about my future disappeared. I could get married, I could christen my children, I could go to my grandparents funerals with both of my parents there, my brother can graduate without the hassle that I had... all of the anger has finally, after seventeen years, gone and she has finally accepted the situation. Life is so much less complicated now, and suddenly a world of possibilities for my future have opened up. I had always assumed I could never have a big wedding, if get married at all, and the thought of having children and having to keep all the celebrations separate was enough to put me off the idea for life yet, now...? It could happen. It's finally all over, and after that weekend, I literally could not be any happier.

Life is finally working out...