Bitter Sweet Symphony Part 1

Further to my Christmas message I am going to do a New Year review. It's that time of year after all. The title comes from a track by a pop group called the Verve. A nice bunch of lads from the North of England, I believe.
Lets get "bitter" over with first. In February my mother's cousin died in Morecambe, or to be pedantic, a hospice in Lancaster. You all know about my mother's death earlier this month. 2007 will not go down as a good year in the family annals. I lost two of my closest relatives.
And then the sweet. My sweet, Hester, to be precise. We are both gobsmacked by the whole thing. I told you before we have been acquainted with each other for over twenty years. It is only since September that we have got into an intense relationship. Maybe making up for lost time, or just realising we want to go for it because we both feel it is right.
Hence the bittersweet in the title. One door closes and another opens. Maybe that is the way love works. I don't know.