Dear friends,

We are so grateful for all the Christmas cards and annual letters we have received, along with support in so many ways. You may have wondered if you had dropped off the bottom of our mailing list, but I am afraid we have not been great at communicating over the last couple of years and so you may not have noted our change of address or even know that we are back at Burrswood! Sorry.

Christmas ’08 was spent at Burrswood – a very special time when it felt a privilege to be serving our patients and guests, many of whom cope with chronic illness and disability. We have been struggling with the dreaded winter viruses, Gareth so ill that he had to miss Christmas Day – a first for him!

Gareth has had a demanding time since returning to Burrswood. Even before the economic downturn, Burrswood was facing challenges (which is partly why Gareth allowed his arm to be twisted to come back). A £1 million hospital extension is underway and due to be opened by June – the contract was signed just before credit crunch! 2009 will see him sadly putting down his stethoscope in order to focus more directly on marketing and fundraising on top of the management role he was appointed to. His heart-longing is to see the hospital beds open to all on the basis of a patient’s need rather than their ability to pay. That would be a miracle and so we will work hard and trust our miracle-working God.

Alongside Burrswood, Gareth has continue to chair Hospice23 (www.hospice23.org) but steps down in May ’09. He loves his work as Trustee of Macmillan Cancer Support and also serves as an elder in our Church (although he does wonder whether he should make way for a younger elder!)

You may remember that Mary had closed her interior design consultancy in order to Project Manage the extension and refurbishment of our Church in Tunbridge Wells (www.twcf.org)

For some while it was touch and go whether she would finish the project or it would finish her but we at last moved back in to the building in September. It didn’t come in on time or on budget so there may not be a career move afoot! However, the building has been completely transformed with much-needed extra space created by hanging a mezzanine floor under the hall and kitchen-area and the congregation are almost universally appreciative of the end result. Our return coincided with the appointment of our new Pastor, which is even more exciting. Stuart and Judith Mayho, with their sons, Jacob and Nathanael, arrived from Retford and are a wonderful gift to us all. The congregation is growing Sunday by Sunday which is very exciting and we are benefiting from Stuart’s wonderful gift of teaching and leadership.

Mary continues also to work part-time in a local general practice, a job she loves and a team she values. The practice has had to expand very rapidly in order to survive as a small surgery by today’s standards, which has meant that reception is increasingly busy. However, she reckons the job better than Sudoku for keeping the brain-trained!

Our eight grandchildren are such a joy, if moderately chaotic en masse! The other bit of family news which you may have missed last year due to us being such poor correspondents, was the sad death of Alastair, our foster son for ten years, aged just 23. The agonising grief has passed, but we still miss him so much. We are still in touch with Jenni, his lovely partner. She has bravely rebuilt her life and is nanny-ing for friends of ours and sharing a house with one of Alastair’s closest friends.

We survive our rather too-busy lives by taking wonderful holidays. Aigua Blava has become our annual early spring R&R and we’re going for the fifth time this year. Last year we walked in the heat and mountains of Sardinia, staying in some beautiful hotels along the way. As relaxation from the Church building project, we found time to give Ty Mari (our original Welsh cottage – www.welsh-hideaways.co.uk) a significant face-lift with a re-wire, new kitchen and free-standing sun room. We have already planned several trips for 2009, to keep us sane.

Mary’s parents have had a difficult year adjusting to her mother’s loss of sight last Christmas. They cope wonderfully well and never complain. Hugh was hospitalised in Alexandria whilst they were on a cruise and they had to fly home for him to have surgery. After a stressful set-back, he is now recovering fine but had already decided that at 85 he should give up skiing (but not tennis, which he still plays twice a week)!

One of the reasons we abandoned our annual newsletter was because of comments that it was too long! So, if you are interested in our various family members, do click on the links to see what they are up to. There has been lots of change in the past year and we are bracing ourselves to see Deborah and Justin and their family off to Sudan in the New Year (initially for two years). We’ll visit them in September, although are not sure where they will put us up as they may be in a one-room mud hut! We are enjoying Jon, Ruth and their family being slightly closer to us for the next three years whilst at Bible College and see Tracy and children almost every week. Paul and Alex come home now and again!

We look forward to all God has for us as a family in the year ahead and do hope there is an opportunity to catch up with more friends. We have a big house to welcome you to and Burrswood is a glorious place to visit any time of year.

With our love to you all

Mary and Gareth

St. Luke's House,
Burrswood,
Groombridge,
Tunbridge Wells,
Kent TN3 9PY
mary@tuckwell-family.co.uk
01892 864541