Merry Christmas, Nana.
Another year has passed, and I still think of you often, especially today.
So much has changed, and yet some things feel exactly the same.
I wish you could see my girls. Jessy has come so far, she’s overcome more than people realise, and she does it with such resilience and heart. She’s funny, kind, and stronger than she knows. Charlotte is… Charlotte, clever, sharp, thoughtful, and entirely herself in the best possible way. They both make me laugh every single day.
They were so little when you died that they don’t remember you, but I make sure you’re never absent from their lives. I tell them about you often, you come up in our conversations, in stories, in little moments. In that way, you’ve been a part of their lives for as long as they’ve had memories.
I know you would have loved them. I see traces of that love in the way they care, the way they notice things, the way they hold on to what matters. Under no circumstances would I ever let them go, they are my whole world, and I protect them with all of my heart.
I carry you with me quietly, in the way I live, and in the way I love them.
I hope you’d be proud of the life I’m building, and the family we are.
Thinking of you today, always.
Love,
Danielle
Danielle Mclaughlan
25/12/2025
