2019 was...
JAN
Milo at the Dog Cafe, an absolutely epic trip to Las Vegas on behalf of the BBC Blue Room in order to once-over and report back on the latest technology trends to affect the UK as part of the Consumer Electronics Show 2019 (this included a day to get there via London, Bally's, Caeser's Palace, consumer tech shopping at Fry's, Mexican food, Belaggio fountains, all the 8K, Showstoppers, Pepcom, omelettes without the eggs, partying inside Ringo's eyeball, Wolfgang Pucks, Casinos galore, a fire breathing preying mantis, the best night out in the street - Freemont Street specifically, ever, DJ's in trucks, and a robotic Uber - plus lots lots more), followed by a non-work related solo trip to San Francisco which consisted of rain (mostly rain, but also wine tasting, Pier 39, pizza's at Marios, penny arcades, USS Jeremiah O'Brien, an epic mission across the Golden Gate bridge for a photo opportunity, more rain, Transformers comics, Anchor Steam Brewery and a rainy pub crawl), Mackie Mayor
FEB
Anna & Jame's wedding, Optimus Maximus, Airport Playground, applying for the big league to break the deadlock (the deadlock was broken, the air was cleared), fairies at Warhurst Fold.
We said farewell to Bronwen Ursula Ward. Thanks for the cups of tea Nana. And for letting me stay up late one night to watch Bottom and horror films that were incredibly wrong for children to watch. They played a part in setting course for all things TV. Thank you for EVERYTHING. I miss you. x
MARCH
Nana's funeral
APRIL
Privacy conferences in that London, gunpowder curries in that London, Easter egg hunts and fairy photos at Coppice Walk, the Cinema Room v1.0 is complete, a Blackpool Zoo birthday for Robyn in which she got to FEED THE GIRAFFES, Infinity War Part II (in which Hazel had a false labour alert and was annoyed with me because I was being truthful when I said my phone would literally be off during the film and so she shouldn't go into labour),
MAY
THE ARRIVAL OF CASSIAN ORION WARHURST
Cassian's arrival was joyous. I held my son in my arms and the whole Universe just clicked. Everything was how it should be. Everything was as I'd imagined. Everything was going to be just fine.
Until we were told that might not be the case.
I am actually writing this in Jan 2021 - trying to write up 2019, even in the format of these pithy annual posts on my own blog, was a task that I put off for over a year. What words are there? How can I not talk about what happened without Cassian, whilst avoiding casting any shadow over the sheer joy and rock solid fact that he is here, he is a cheeky, funny, happy little man, and he is ours.
Our son was taken to intensive care not long after he was born. He was fitted with a nastro-gastric feeding tube in his nose and put into an incubator. He didn't get to come home right away - and nobody had immediate answers for us.
Eventually, the stalled-reality of having a baby did re-synch - sort of. He came home, but we were in a sort of limbo as something was amiss, and he still needed the feeding tube and a lot of extra care.
Eventually, the diagnosis came about six weeks later - our son has Prader-Willi Syndrome.
This is an inescapable fact, and is something that changed the course of all our lives forever more. We do not want PWS to define the totality of his life, his existence, his personality, his journey through this Life. Yet it will always be there, and cannot be ignored.
Cassian, our son, is Here. He had Arrived. We remain ecstatic every time he smiles.
We are still learning what PWS will mean for us all. April 2019 is when our son entered the World.
Believe it or not Kid, this is the fun part. x
JUNE
A much needed family holiday to Devon (including Tony Tigers, photos with Eagles, Father's Day and jogging on)
JULY
A Warhurst Clan adventure to Llandudno for a wedding anniversary,
AUG
New ID cards in full Starfleet dress Uniform, Cassian's first physio (at a 'Blue Room' no less), no more mugs, the oddest spontaneous Stockport night out in a long while, a Reddish Vale family photoshoot,
SEP
Robyn starts nursery, return to IFA Berlin to report on another technology trade for the the BBC Blue Room (Berlin escapades Donners, include The Hat Jazz Bar, hanging on Ziggy Marley's tour bus with Mimi, Lego Giraffes, Pepcom and post-Pepcom-party with way too much wine and Uber fun, Tumblers, Murphy's, Ampelmann, American Diners, and of course, throughout all of it, IAN!), Folk Train,
OCT
The third Blue Room AI & Society Tech Conference (and all the behind the scenes madness that goes with it) followed by a day in London and finally getting to see a show (The Merry Wives of Windsor) at The Globe Theatre,
NOV
Robyn's first trip to the Cinema (A Shaun the Sheep Movie, Farmageddon), a whole new working from home desk setup (because you never know when an extensive work-from-home luxury setup may come in handy, right...?), new specs, a Drone (the gift of flight no less), an early Christmas Team night out with Pizza making and Darts (I can't say more, because the first rule of Flight Club is...), a Ribby Hall rainy holiday, which was good to reset the mind and to spend time with support from wider family.
And then out of the blue, with no warning whatsoever, we had to say farewell to Ziggy. Ziggy The Prince. Ziggy the Three-Legged Cat.
My white shadow. My faithful friend who was always just there - had a sudden medical emergency. A normal Saturday night and our world was flipped completely upside down. The kids were in bed. Hazel said a rushed goodbye, hoping to see him again, but assuming she wouldn't. I was there at the end of his story.
When we met Ziggy, he'd been through the mill. He didn't make friends easily, to say the least (numerous pals have scratch marks to attest to this) but he was always part of our Family. I miss him dearly.
DEC
Deleting Facebook. Shooting a UHD explainer film on behalf of the BBC for IBC, asking for help from friends, for some communication, familiarity and company, as reckoning with PWS and everything it is entailing was (and is) all encompassing, overwhelming and (then at least) often paralysing... and having to deal with the reality of that call going largely un-answered... Robyn's first show, Cinema Room v1.1 (it got new doors), a Christmas pub crawl night out which allowed some chapters to be finalised, The Rise of Skywalker, Santa Train, Christmas.
HMMM
As I say, writing this in Jan 2021, all said and done, 2019 made everything that 2020 had to throw at us a walk in the park in comparison. We had so many kicks in the teeth, it was easy to look back on 2019 as a disinter - a year to be forgotten, to be written off and ignored.
Yet... (eventually) forcing myself to write this up reminds me that it had so much good too - of course it did. Especially in comparison to 2020.
2019, if nothing else (and lets face it, there was plenty of things going on) is the year of CASSIAN ORION WARHURST. So take that Universe - we've made a dent.
x
