Merry Christmas From Your Girl Bethany

To my beloved friends and family,

From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for bringing me joy and happiness for the last couple of months despite the heartache that I went through this year. Each and every single one of you has given me so much that cannot thank you enough for just always being there and making me cry of laughter when I needed to. I know most of you have already asked what presents I want for Christmas. But to be honest, all of you have already given me my Christmas present, by just always being there by my side and putting the biggest smile on my face. So this year I ask for nothing in return. I just want each of you to continue to support me in the decisions that I make and for us to keep on making so many memories together that can never be forgotten. I hope you enjoy this small virtual gift and don't be offended if I caught you out. Haha!

Emeline

Emeline oh Emeline. You were the first person I thought of when I decided to do this Christmas card. The fact you've moved back to Paris upsets me so much as we had so much fun when you came down to London for the summer. There was nothing do to in the city due to the lockdown so the main activity was to go to the park and take lots of pictures. I see many Instagram influencers do this for a living but I never understood the desire to do a photoshoot for three hours when you're only going to post one photo anyway. But now I see why. It was just so much fun! Remember when we tried to take mid-air shots for a half-hour but we kept on failing miserably. I still have so many videos of us just taking selfies that day and we kept screaming at all the photos because we looked so cute together. Ahh, I miss those days.

Whenever we reunite we always make each other laugh by just saying the stupidest comments but that day we spent together at the park was something special. You were such a breath of fresh air as I was going through a serious situation that kept on bothering me but all I needed to do was to see your lovely smile and have your bright sense of humor around me to make me feel better. So I just want to say thank you for being the incredible person you are and keep on laughing at those bull terrier videos that I send you.

Dylan and Alexandra

Okay family members it's your turn! Alexandra, I know your quite young to see this for yourself but hopefully mummy will show this when she receives the email.

I still can't believe we managed to do a quick family holiday to Turkey while this whole pandemic was going on in the background. We've done so many family holidays over the years but there was something about Turkey that was just so special. Maybe because we spent so much time together as cousins with no parents, uncles, or aunties that we just made each other laugh non-stop. Remember on the very first day where we went on the speed raft by the river and we couldn't stop screaming at each other. Dylan your twenty-two years old and you were screaming like a girl and Alexandra your screams came from a horror movie. Meantime I was just laughing at both of you but I was on the verge of being sick as I had butterflies in my stomach every time the driver spun the raft around. That ride was super intense yet so funny with the two of you by my side.

Alexandra, I also can't get over when Dylan accidentally gave you Baileys by the pool bar when he thought it was milk. Now Dylan, how are you confusing milk with Baileys and how could you possibly give an eight-year-old alcohol? Alexandra, I'm pretty sure that's why you were all over the place once you had that drink. Thank god your mum didn't find out. There are so many memories of us from that trip that I could talk about but the maximum space for this file on an email is 40Mb so I need to keep things rolling. Forever and ever we will always be close family members and I can't wait to see what family trips we'll take on together in the next couple of years. I love you two so much!

Davide

Davide my favorite work colleague! Did you think I really deleted this picture of you? Ha jokes on you. But you look extremely adorable as well.

I know your birthday didn't go to plan this year as we were planning to go to Duck and Waffle to eat some Duck and Waffle but Boris Johnson clearly crushed our plan by introducing the second lockdown. Now, remember I keep on telling you things happen for a reason. Well in some way shape or form I'm so glad we didn't spend hundreds at a fancy restaurant as we had so much fun in hyde park for your birthday. Our little two-hour picnic with Fatima turned into five hours of us just laughing when you were trying to blow the candles out but the wind kept blowing them away. Then you kept on cursing in Italian which made everything ten times funnier.

This year without you would have been a disaster. Not only have you held my hand through thick and thin but you've always been there to give me hope and wisdom, then you top it off with your hilarious personality. Davide, you are truly the best, and I couldn't be more grateful to have as you as a work colleague and friend.

Zora

Zora, I miss you so much, why did you have to go? When you told me you were moving back to Calais my heart melted but I understand you have to do what's best for you. It feels like yesterday that we were dancing along to Bruno Mars in the common room at work and we kept on singing Versace on the floor because we were both going on dates that night. Do you also remember when you took this photo above? I was so tired that day I had to take a quick nap whilst I was on my break, then I heard a giggle in the background whilst I was snoring. Turns out that was you taking this photo.

I will also never forget the time when there were so many orders for Spiced Chai Lattes and I absolutely hated making them so you were just laughing at me as I was cursing in front of customers. Then Alessandro came to help with the orders but he kept on making such a massive mess of the cinnamon powder so I just gave up. Looking back on that day that was probably one of the worst but funniest shifts ever! You and me together at work was a disaster as all we did was laughed and be rude customers for no reason. It's a shame that we never got to really meet outside of work but I know one day we will reunite once again so we can re-live the memories that we made outside of the workplace.

Gigi

Gigi my sweet Gigi you're going to grow up and become such a handsome boy. Mummy can hopefully share this with you when you're a bit older but now I'm going to leave you with this small message. I just want to say thank you so much for being such a happy three year old, you take so much pride when you talk so much nonsense it makes me so happy. You are the little star in my life that I go to whenever I'm feeling down or upset. For such a bright intelligent boy you know how to cheer me up and you always comfort me by giving me hugs and kisses every time I welcome you in my arms. I am so proud to be your cousin and I'm so glad I live down the road from you. The short distance between us will never stop us from seeing each other every day. The only thing about you that really gets on my nerves is when you don't smile for the camera like in the photo above. Gosh, out of all the photos we took together that day this was the nicest one of you, I can't believe it. You have such an adorable face and nice bushy hair, you need to learn how to smile and pose so the camera sees what the naked eye sees.

Grandma

I saved the best until last. Grandma, you are the mother of all mothers. Since I was a little girl up until now you have given me nothing but smiles and laughs. Of course, you have given me all the exceptional life lessons but you are the one that I run to whenever I need to just laugh it out. The day we went to Camber Sands Beach is a day that I will never forget as you were modeling and posing for two hours until you had the perfect picture. The way you were modelling and telling so many jokes about Grandad at the same time just made the day so much more fun. I know you're probably looking at this picture above and thinking that this was not the perfect shot but in my eyes, they were all perfect. All of them deserved to be on the cover of Vogue magazine despite how weird the poses were.

Grandma, you are a legend in my life. The fact that you can be fun and silly but very serious and grounded with us grandchildren says it all. I don't know what life would be like with another Grandma, you are the one that I will always admire.

If any of you feel embarrassed which I don't understand why you would be then here's a photo of me above flirting with a teddy bear.

Alexandra, Dylan, Gigi, and Grandma I will be seeing you all on Christmas day. Davide, I will see you in the new year, Emeline and Zora we will be reuniting again very soon. I love you all so much and can't wait to see most of you during the holiday period. Stay safe this Christmas and may 2021 bring many blessings to each and every single one of you.

Once again Merry Christmas from your girl Bethany xxxxx.

Wait I just realized something! Alexandra your mum will know about the alcohol situation as I will be sending this email to her for you and Gigi to read. Whoops.