An Alternative Year In Review

Normally around now, in my bygone blogging days I would do the Year In Review survey. I haven't seen one yet and I thought it would be nicer to just share thoughts rather than follow the crowd.

Just where on earth do I begin?

The main word for 2016 has to be Shock. Where I think 2017 is going to be a year of Change and maybe (hopefully) Progress.

Who'd have really predicted this time last year that Britain would opt out of the EU. It was always a chance that it WOULD happen but most of us Brits never really expected it to happen. The whole nation was divided yet the result was won by the Vote Leave party. Of course, nothing yet has happened and we are currently having Senior Politicians and judges in court trying to overturn the decision. Why? Because deep down, the country has no idea what to do without Europe! The new PM Theresa May is still pushing for it but I won't believe it until it actually happens.

I did actually vote Leave myself. Why? Because Britain needs to change. It wasn't about immigration. It wasn't about race. It wasn't about the money we pump into every other European country to keep "in the gang". It's because as a country we've lost our individuality. We've lost what made Britain Great in the first place. Whilst many people voted remain as they were concerned about their jobs, we have no British Industry - most business are owned by Euro firms or the mega rich American and Saudi business men. Small independent businesses have to fight to survive. Shops are closing as they are not owned by the big parties. Small businesses are not getting the deals for cheaper goods on the same scale as the big names and when they begin to crumble, the big names buy them out and close them down eliminating competition. With less competition there's more assets and money to them in their offshore accounts. They have tax breaks, they have tax loopholes which means the economy is failing because the taxes aren't going into the British tax pot.  We have to fight to get that back. With EU rules saying what we can and can't do, who we can trade with across the world and basically, being forced into inside handshakes, Britain has suffered. I believe we need immigration. These are the workers that do the jobs the Brits don't want. Long hours of farming, long hours in retail, 24 hour shops, restaurants, chemists, doctors. We NEED them. We also need to support those really in need requiring asylum but we need to be more control on how we do it. People should not be able to come over for a council house and live off the state, they should pay into it first or get jobs and learn English to be able to fit in with the British. Not the British should be bullied into changing their ways and having areas of mass divide in communities. We are supposed to be an understanding and welcoming nation but in certain areas, the minorities outweigh the regular.  I want a better life for my kids, whichever way we went politically, the future is probably going to be quite similar and as much as we have a new PM, we still have the same political party in control so I don't have that much hope that too much will change.

Italy has just done the same thing in a recent vote. The PM has quit and it looks like everyone has had enough of being told what to do by Brussels.

The same goes the same for Trump.

Did any of us really believe he had a chance this time last year? Really?

Once again, I would have struggled where to vote if I lived in the US. I would not describe myself as a Trump supporter but then again, no way would I have wanted to vote Clinton. Again, like the Brexit, Trump aimed for the communities where the "average American" felt they had been forgotten. Go to the segregated areas, give them the promise life could be like it used to be, win the vote.

The whole world seems to be rebelling.

The thing with Trump is, that he is very clever. Already he is making changes. He is making connections with the people that the US in the past have shunned. Have felt threatened by. Have punished and sanctioned in ways because the US did not agree with. Could this actually be a good thing? Better the devil you know than the devil you don't??? There are some world leaders out there that are dangerous, surely it is worth trying to build bridges rather than create more conflict. I'm not saying that we should accept everything other countries do, but we need to accept the East and the West are very different places altogether. We need to accept that not one rule fixes all.

Democracy is confused right now with so much division. You can't please everyone. Someone will always call it being rigged. Will we ever know the truth? Probably not, but

Of course, other BIG things have happened this year.

We have lost some really big Superstars around the world. From Bowie, to Prince, to Castro. There are some massive names out there that have shocked us all.

However, nothing could compare or begin to shock me more than losing my own Mum a little under 8 months ago. I'm still in shock. I still have bad days and the last few weeks, as Christmas approaches I'm finding it harder when I thought I would be finding it easier. The special occassions will always be the worst, as are the anniversaries but the last couple of weeks, so much about Christmas from picking out presents and choosing one less and writing out cards and remembering Christmas years gone by, I've just found the last few weeks very emotional.

Deep down I'm ok and I know I'll be ok.

There's just so many sad Christmas songs, her favourite Christmas songs. Her silliness around it all. I miss it all.

My dad and brother are alone for Christmas and that makes me feel bad. We invited them here. We invited ourselves there. We even invited them away with us over Christmas to be told that they just wanted a quiet time to themselves. It really isn't that I've not tried. I really did not want them to be alone over Christmas but I don't think it's them to make a big fuss.  

We are taking the kids away for a break, They deserve it. Even my dad said, "You go and give them kids the Christmas they deserve. Your mum would be telling you that if it was anyone else that had died and would not want anyone sitting around feeling sorry for her." He's right. My mum was always "Put those kids first" there's plenty of time for other stuff.  It's just when that time runs out, you realise how much you miss that "other stuff".

So, we are going to have a great Christmas, light a candle for her and just enjoy each day as it comes.

2017 looks set to be a bit different in many ways, I will expand on that another time, but I really cannot wait for this stupid year to be over and settle back to some sort of world which isn't out to keep surprising me.