It’s the last day of the month which means that it’s time for a monthly update. April has been an interesting time to say the least, but I’ll get onto that. Last month’s entry ended with being home for the Easter holidays, and there’s how this one starts too.
Being back at home meant that I could catch up with my old friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen in a very long time. A few friends and I headed to a bar (I know what you’re thinking…how very out of character, but hey you’ve got to go with the flow sometimes), we had a lovely time catching up, eating desserts and drinking cocktails. It was great to see them and hear what they’ve been up to. It was one of those moments that I got to reflect on how far I’ve come in the past few years and see that although it doesn’t feel like it sometimes, I have achieved a lot to be proud of.
Also while I was home, it was Carys’ birthday. Another year older and wiser but not taller (still, I wouldn’t change her for the world). To celebrate being 24, we hopped on a train to London and went to the zoo. It was a day full of cute animals, attempting taking pictures and lots of walking. A week or so before we went, London Zoo had opened their new lion enclosure and it was amazing – unfortunately though, the lions themselves were feeling a little shy that day. My favourite memory will always be when Carys accidentally told one of the zoo keepers that he was cute; thinking about it still makes me giggle a little bit.
After that, it was time to pack up and head back to Brighton. We kicked off the new term by having a social event at the pub and I managed to drag Luca along with me. It was nice to talk to some of the other people on our course about things other than the work (once we found them that is – it was a big pub!). After a while, we decided to go onto somewhere else since the place we were at had gotten a bit busy. After a bit of wondering around, we settled on a smaller place with some interesting art on the walls. I had a great time and it wasn’t so bad to be a little bit out of my comfort zone with going out.
It’s about then that things started to go downhill. Some things happened in my personal life that meant that I wasn’t exactly in a great place mentally. Luckily, its nothing major but at the time it felt like my whole world was falling apart. I’m not going to go into to what was wrong because some things are too personal, but I think its important to say that there are hard times as well as amazing ones.
To cheer me up, Megan and I went to see the Minions movie at the student cinema and she even brought me some hot chocolate. There’s nothing like movies, junk food and friends to mend a broken heart. After what had been an awful day, she made my evening much better and I’m so grateful for that. I’m so glad that randomly sitting with a stranger at dinner has turned into this.
Towards the end of the month, it was time to say goodbye to a very close friend of mine. Due to some health issues, Luca was finishing the first year early and while I’m glad that he’s going to be okay, I’m going to miss him like crazy. To celebrate surviving this much, we went out for dinner and walked along the beach one last time (for this academic year anyway!). I can’t believe how close we’ve become in such a short space of time. I’m so lucky to have met him and I honestly don’t know what I would have done without him. If you’re reading this Luca (you probably are since I make you read my blog), thank you for making me laugh, for being there when things go wrong and for being a wonderful friend. Get well soon so that we can get back to making memories together!
And that just about sums up April. It’s been quite the roller-coaster and I certainly felt the dark cloud of depression hovering around, but I’m trying to take things one day at a time and I’m getting help so things won’t be as bad as before. Writing these posts encourages me to reflect on everything that’s happened and while it certainly feels like it was a scary collection of dark days, there were good things too and I have amazing friends that support me no matter what.
April, while you haven’t been my favourite month, you have taught me a lot, which I’m grateful for but I’m also kind of glad that it’s all over now.
The Little Snowball 