Threw a party last night to say so long to our friends.

Had a house full this morning with a packed kitchen for breaky, sausages, eggs, hashbrowns, laughs, sore heads, loads of conversation flying all over the place.

As the day has worn on, I have hugged loads of people goodbye. I am feeling totally emotionally drained. Have been lying in bed for over an hour trying to sleep but feel too overwhelmed. tried meditating but head and heart still whirling.

I have known that we will be leaving for three years now, I know that folk are just a short flight away but god this is awful.....

More leaving parties to come, a family that is insisting seeing us off, grand farewell stylie - I just want the next two weeks to be over and for us to be gone.

K

I hear you! We had one huge party with almost 300 people there, we tried our best to get round everyone on the night but its not physically possible. I think we had the party around one week before we actually left....

So we had a full week to see all close family and friends.

One thing we did do, and its up to you but i wouldnt recommend it.....we had a huge group at the airport seeing us off. Both sets of parents, siblings, neices, nephews, grandparents, friends, the lot!! And it was so hard, especially when everyone is so emotional, and you have to walk through those gates and get on the plane and think about their faces the whole way there....way too hard on us and if i could change one thing we wouls have said goodbyes at home and travelled to the airport without the group. I thnk saying goodbye from home may not have felt so final....not sure!

It is amazing though how after years of excitement it finally hits home that its all happening and you do have to leave your loved ones behind.....our parents said it was like a death when we left, everyone wasnt quite sure what to do.....

But at the end of the day you always have to think of the reasons why you are making the move and think about the future, think happy and think about the excitement ahead! (or the madness)

oh how different our send off was to yours.....that'll be there wasn't one. My brother still doesn't know where I live in Canada (too bitter to ask me!), parents who couldn't even put their newspapers down for long enough to say goodbye,:curse: seriously if I had the kind of family and friends that you're talking about I would never have left!!! Of course that does make it so much easier to never suffer from homesickness, having no support network, no phone calls, no letters to have to reply to. My family consists of me, Papa Moose and our 2 gorgeous children and talk about 2 fingers up to the rest of them. Oh how I chuckle when I think of my parents growing old and my brother having to change their pants!!! Ha ha ha ha ha, don't get mad, move Country!!!

Sounds like you have some wonderful people around and you'll need them. I hope all your goodbyes are quick ones, all your dreams come true and you live happily ever after, the fun has just begun

The next two weeks will be hard, no two ways about it. I have to admit I could not have coped with my family coming to the airport. It was bad enough saying goodbye to my parents on their driveway and my sons crying in the taxi all the way to the airport. So I really do wish you lots of strength.

But......You will get through it and once you get on that plane, you can relax - and then order a big glass of wine when they bring the drinks trolley round!!!!!


Good luck and very best wishes - you will be here before you know it!

Personally, I really, really would not do the whole 'family at the airport' thing It's a cruel, wobbly thing to do - for all parties.

The only positive thing I can think of is that your family will all still have each other to howl with, and hug, as they wobble back to their cars !!

Have a great big 'goodbye' session the night before - then head off to the airport with a clear(er) head. You also deserve to have the chance of feeling excited at that point - it's been a long journey.

Big hugs - it's a funny old time

Big Hugs - will all be over soon and then you get the fun part of all the visitors!!

AM hoping we wont have a big send off at the air port - aiming to leave separately to hubby who will already be there and then kids will come over from Spain with my parents!

I got the family farewells done a couple of weeks before we left. Come the day, I simply strolled up to Sloane Square, grabbed a cab back to the house, dumped our suitcases into it, shut the front door, dropped the keys through the letterbox and buggered off to Canada with Souvette.

I see more of my family now than I did when I still lived in England.

We had 3 goodbye meals in one night - each one was a surprise for us so we didn't have to cook

I dont recommend it - it was way too hard for us and the family.....especially the younger neices and nephews. Get it over and done with beforehand and you'll enjoy the flight more and you'll enjoy that drink at the airport more too - you deserve that! We couldnt drink from choking on the tears and snotters

ooh what a lovley picture!!

Don't lose that picture.....soon it will be you! And you'll laugh when it happens

wont be able to laugh as I will be snotting too much!!

Actaully can see what is going to happen - hubby will be there with work, kids will be in spain with parents and it will be me on my ownsome with my 2 large hounds!!

Yep - we'd bought a bottle champers for the last night in the hotel - but we'd just said goodbye to hubby's family who dropped us off at the hotel. Couldn't swallow the bloody stuff. Too choked up. What a waste

really dreading the goodbyes everyone around me seems to be in denial that we are going
thursday is my last day at my work which i own, my partner will take it over and some of my staff had said they are dreading thursday when i leave
but my family dont mention it

thought the best thing i could buy is waterproof mascara and tissues

Or no mascara at all....i think even waterproof will end up messy