Hi Everyone 

I’m starting to feel half normal again. I’ve spent the last two days at home just relaxing. Spending time with family and trying to process everything that happened to us has been therapy in itself. Every blog post I write I feel I’m a tiny step closer to coming back to reality. We were in our own bubble there for a while due to the circumstances. Chilling out at home, catching up on sleep and eating proper home cooked food again has helped to bring me back down to earth.

  
Unfortunately life is hard and there will always be tough times. There are some dark days ahead, but there are some bright ones too. Tomorrow I’m going to start by getting straight back onto my Unislim plan. Believe me there was no clean eating done the last two weeks at all. I’m going to get out for a long walk and clear my head. Getting back to a proper routine and doing the things I enjoy will definitely help me a little bit.

  
I know I have a long road ahead of me yet and I’m far from “fine” I’m devestated, broken, and I feel hollow on the inside from the overwhelming pain in my heart. However I still have my life and I want to live it. I have my eleven year old son going back to school on Tuesday. My Husband Paddy who has supported me through this terrible ordeal. My heartbroken Dad, I need to be strong for him and my brothers and sisters. I’m also due to become an Auntie for the first time at the end of September. I’m very excited about this new chapter.

  
Unfortunately death is part of life, and every family will get their turn eventually. We just happened to get ours a little too soon. I’m grateful for all the brilliant years we had and all the happy times. There are happy times yet to come, we just have to get used to this “new normal” 

For my regular readers I will get back to writing regular posts very soon. I find writing about my experiences and pain quite therapeutic. Thank you for reading these posts I know they are upsetting. I wanted this blog to be truthful and real that’s why I shared this personal information with you all. 

Chat to you soon,

Love Maria

Hi Everyone

Thanks to everyone for Your messages of condolences and to all those Who came to our home to pAy their respects to Mum. We really appreciate the effort people went to for us. We were blown away by the love and support wrapped around us by our Extended family, neighbours and friends. 

We held Mum with us in the home that she loved for two nights. We wouldn’t leave her alone in the church overnight. We kept her with us until it was time to say goodbye on the Wednesday morning. We walked after The hearse from our home in Snugboro, We did this as a mark of respect for all the years she dedicated to us. It was a lovely way to accompany Mum as she left home for the final time.

A huge crowd attended mass yesterday in Castlebar church. Everyone commented on the beautiful mass said by Fr Gerry Gillespe Mums first cousin. Fr Gerry Married our Parents thirty six years ago. We chose the readings, songs and prayers that Mum loved as a tribute to the wonderful life She had with Dad and us five and of course her grandson Lee. My brother David delivered a beautiful eulogy at the end of the mass. My sister Nicky spoke about Our parents thirty six year marriage. An achievement we are all insanely proud of. We were moved to see so many people there to support us on the day.

Thanks to everyone who followed us up to Castlebar Cemetery where we laid our Mum to rest for the final time. The lovely prayers and flowers and beautiful words are a comfort to us. We know that Mum is at peace now. We are eternally grateful to everyone who helped us through the last few weeks. Without the love and support we would never have coped.

Thanks again everybody, see you soon.

Love Maria xx 

 

Hi Everyone 

Thanks for all the lovely messages of support We have received following the loss of our beautiful Mum. Our lovely Mum lost her battle with cancer on Sunday 23rd August at 6.05 PM. We were all with her, Dad, myself, my brothers David & Padraig, sisters Caitriona & Nicky. My 2 Aunties Claire & Ann Mums sisters were also in the room.

To say our Mum suffered was an understatement. The last few weeks of her life were just awful. It has been the most horrendous ordeal of our lives. For us as a family to witness what Cancer did to our Mother was just horrible.We are all traumatised by the events of the last month, and It will take us a long time to recover emotionally. 

I could never have imagined in a million years how awful the harsh reality of this illness. Only the poor unfortunate people who have had to endure this torture in their own families could understand the pain and suffering involved. 

As a family we did the only thing that We could do. We pulled together & held on tight to every moment We had left together. We stayed by Mums side and barely left her alone in her final weeks except to sleep. Luckily with a large family we were able to take it on turns so Mum had company at all times.

Mum was cared for by the Nurses in the Lady of Knock ward  at The Galway Clinic. They were absolutely brilliant and they did everything they could to try and make her as comfortable as possible. We will never forget the kindness and compassion shown to us all through the most testing time of our lives. 

Thank you for reading this & I realise that it might scare the reader but my pain is very raw right now and this is how I feel. Mrsdillonsdiary.ie is about my life and times and sharing my pain is a little therapeutic.

Chat soon, love Maria xx 

 

Hi Everyone
As you already know our Mum has been very Ill lately. In fact our Mum is terminally Ill. Mum has been in hospital in the Galway Clinic for the last month. She has been cared for exceptionally well by the medical team there. The kindness that the nurses have shown to us all as a family has been just phenomenal . This has been the most horrendous ordeal of our lives. Many of my readers clients & friends have had to endure this in Your own families and You have been a great support to me over these sad and stressful times. Thanks everyone for Your messages of support We really appreciate all of Your kind words and prayers. Thanks for your patience and understanding of why my blog is quiet at the moment. I’m not working at all this week as I need to be with my Dad, Brothers, Sisters, Husband and Son at the moment so we can spend as much time with Mum as we can & be together as a family.
Thanks again folks & I’ll see You soon.
Love Maria xx

Hi Everyone,

I thought it was about time I wrote a post on HAIR seeing as Hairdressing is my main business and I’ve worked in the industry for fourteen years. There’s so much information out there from haircare companies at the moment, it can be confusing and overwhelming. Knowing what is the right thing or the wrong thing to do can be hard work. There are a few really simple things You can do Yourself that wont cost You the earth, that can make Your life so much easier when it comes to managing Your hair.

First let me explain a little about the hair structure. Each strand of hair has a sheet of cuticle scales on the outer layer, this protects all the inner bonds within the hair. These cuticle scales look like slates on the roof of a house. When we shampoo our hair all these cuticle scales are opened up, to let the product in. When we condition we shut down the cuticle, to seal in the inner bonds and protect the hair from damage.

Ok so basically, Your goal is to shut the cuticle scales as much as possible. You can do this with a good conditioner, leave it on for a few minutes for maximum effect. Now here’s the important part, a well shut cuticle is what creates shine on the hair, because it will reflect the light. DRYING Your hair properly is what really matters here. Yes You read that properly. You need to use Your hairdryer.  Now I realize that You were told for years that drying hair naturally was brilliant, but its actually not so great at all. The reason why Your hair is so shiny and smooth after a salon blow-dry is because Your hairdresser works hard to shut down those cuticle scales.

Continue reading

Hi Everyone,

We are going through a very tough time as a family at the moment. I have spoken about this in one of my recent posts. Our Mum is very ill, and is in hospital in Galway. I wasn’t sure whether to post about this or not. As MrsDillonsDiary.ie is a blog about my life and times, I felt it was only fair to let You guys know what was going on. I am heartbroken and trying to process  the tidal wave of emotion and raw pain that overwhelms me. I’m trying to remain as normal as possible and keep to routine, just to keep myself sane. Keeping up my usual daily tasks is keeping me grounded. I have been working in the salon all week and going to Galway in the evenings. I have still wrote some posts but I wont be as active as usual on the Blog while this is going on.

Thank You to all my lovely clients and friends who have listened and cried with me this week. Your kind words and support mean the world to me and it has actually very therapeutic to talk it out as a lot of You have had to endure this in Your own families too. Thank You all for Your patience and understanding at this awful time.

Bye for Now,

Love, Maria

 

 

As some of You will already know, I am a hairdresser, I have run my own salon in Castlebar since 2007.

As a child, I was obsessed with cutting my dolls hair. Every Dolly in our house was stripped naked, washed in the bathroom sink and the hair brushed within an inch of its life. Once I had done this Id hack off all the hair with the kitchen scissors. As I got older, it was upstyles, curls, crimping, waving etc I was always obsessed with doing hair. Continue reading