Dear Liam and Francesca,

It’s just about lunch time now and I’m wondering what you’re doing at the moment. I suppose that you’ll be having lunch at nursery, Liam. Do you go home for lunch, Francesca or do you have it with your friends at school? There’s just so much we don’t know about you any more, isn’t there?

Grandma has just gone to pick up Thomas from school and we’re both going to see him on Thursday. It’s his birthday on that day and we’ll have a bit of a family party. There’ll be four people missing from that celebration, though and we wish that you could all be there. Perhaps next year, eh?

Thomas will be having a party for his friend on Saturday so their house will be pretty full then, and I’m sure everyone will have lots of fun.

So, hope that you have a good afternoon at school and nursery and a nice evening,
Talk to you tomorrow,
Masses and masses and masses of love,
from
Grandma and Grandad xxxx

Dear Francesca and Liam,

What a day it is today in Colindale! I hope it’s better where you are. If it’s like here, you’ll definitely be inside today. It’s raining and really miserable, here. We’ve just been out to look for a chair. Grandma wants a chair to replace the swivel chair in the living room so we’ve just been down to Staples Corner to look at some.

I’m now going to work on my book on Flywheel Energy Storage as I’ve got to get it finished next week and there’s still a lot to do. Hope you’re doing something interesting this afternoon. We’re thinking of you.

Have a nice afternoon and we’ll talk tomorrow,

All our love from,
Grandma and Grandad xxxx

Hello there, Liam and Francesca,

Hope you had a good day today. I’ve been in a recording studio today with the Trans-Siberian March Band. It was very interesting but quite hard work. We recorded four different pieces for our new CD. We have to have this to send out to the people who run the festivals at which we want to play. We have to show them what sort of music we play. You two have never heard us play, have you? I hope that you will one day. I’ve put a link to the band’s site just on the left of your screen so you can take a look at it.

I hope that you’ve got something exciting lined up for tomorrow and that you have a great Sunday.

Sleep tight and dream sweet dreams,

All our love,

Grandma and Grandad xxxx

Hi there, Francesca and Liam,

Hope you’ve both had a good day at school and are looking forward to the weekend. We’ve just got back from picking Thomas up from school. Then we stayed for dinner with them and had a nice evening. They all hope you’re well and Thomas misses you both.

I went for my sax lesson before we left to pick Thomas up and that went well. I suppose that I am getting better but it’s very slow when you start from scratch. I’ll certainly tell you when I make my first public appearance but I don’t know when that will be.

Well, sleep tight and have really, really nice dreams,
We’ll be thinking of you over the weekend,
Bye and love from,
Grandma and Grandad xxxx

Dear Liam and Francesca,

Hope you’ve had a good day today. Grandma’s been out to Essex today with some of her friends and I gave her and Ida a lift to Burnt Oak where they got on a coach and then fetched them back this evening.

You remember Ida, don’t you? She used to look after Yeshey for you and she looked after her for quite a long time when you left Colindale and went to South Africa. How is Yeshey? Is she liking your new place where you’re living. We hope so.

Sleep tight then both of you – and Yeshey and we’ll write tomorrow,

All our love,
Grandma and Grandad xxxx

Dear Francesca and Liam,

I’ve just got back from Barnet Band so you’ll be tucked up safely in bed by now. It was funny when I left, the curtains were open at your house and the lights were on so you could see inside. I know that you’re not there anymore but it made me think of you. What I saw as I passed in the car was the stairs and I remember when you bought the house and how your Mummy and Daddy changed the stairs. What I really remember is when we all talked about where the builder had put them and when we had to ask him to move them back so that there was enough height for someone tall to get up them safely. Do you remember that, Francesca. I know that you won’t Liam because you weren’t born then. I suppose to you, the stairs had always been that way. You won’t remember how they were when the house was first built.

We wonder a lot about where you’re living now. What your house is like. What it’s like around you. Where your school and nursery is. They’re all things we’d like to know. Things would certainly be easier for us if we felt that we had some contact with you.

Whatever happens, what matters is that you two are safe and happy. That’s the thing we wish for most. We’ll go to bed tonight wishing for that.

So, dream really nice dreams and wake up fresh in the morning,

Heaps and heaps and heaps of love from,

Grandma and Grandad xxxx

Dear Liam and Francesca,

How’s things? Hope they’re well. We’ve been busy today. The fan stopped working in the shower in the loft and I had to replace it. It took some time to find one just like it in a shop and then we had to fetch it. When we went to get it from Screwfix, a most amazing thing happened. We were just standing at the counter ordering the new fan when someone said, Hi Peter. I looked around and it was Kath from the Trans-Siberian March Band. She doesn’t live anywhere near us and she was returning a fan which her builder had bought but it wasn’t suitable for where he wanted it to be – AND IT WAS THE SAME FAN WHICH WE HAD JUST BOUGHT! We just couldn’t believe it that we both ended up in the same shop with the same fan!

We also went to Argos to buy your cousin Thomas’s birthday present I suppose that you know that it’s his birthday soon. Buying presents always makes me think of you two. We weren’t allowed to buy you presents on your last birthdays and that made us very sad. We keep wondering what’s going to happen at Christmas? We don’t know if we will see you. We hope so but we probably won’t.

We can’t wait for the day when we can see you both and to talk to you again. We dream of that all the time.

Well, hope you’re both having sweet dreams as I write,
We’ll keep in touch tomorrow,
All our love,
Grandma and Grandad xxxx

Dear Francesca and Liam,

This is our 280th letter to you. That means that it’s now thirty whole weeks since we wrote our first letter. Can you work that out for yourselves, eh? If each week has seven days then ten weeks has seventy. This means that thirty weeks has three times as many as ten weeks and that two hundred and eighty days. That’s an awful long time since we’ve been unable to talk, isn’t it?

Anyway, Grandma and I are sitting here wondering what you are doing at this moment. We guess that you’re probably having your tea. We hope that it’s something nice. What do you both really like now? We know what you liked a few months ago. Have you both changed what your favourite food is?

One day, we’ll be together again and then we can find out. We just can’t help wondering, though.

Until tomorrow, then, we wish you a happy evening and hope that you’ve got something nice to do before bedtime. We’ll be thinking of you, as we always do,

Bye for now, from,
Grandma and Grandad xxxx

Dear Liam and Francesca,

Hope you’ve had a great weekend and are ready for another week at school/nursery. What have you done this weekend. Did you go to the pictures? We went today, to see Christmas Carol. I really enjoyed it but I think that it could have been a bit scary in places for young children.

Next week, I’ve got to get on and finish the book I’m doing for the university so I’ll be quite busy. I guess you two will be busy with all your school work. I hope it’s going well.

For now, though, you’ll be sleeping and getting ready for the new week,
You’ll have all our love to help you through it,
So, here’s lots and lots and lots of love from,
Grandma and Grandad xxxx

Dear Francesca and Liam,

Hope that you are tucked up in bed and dreaming about what you will be doing tomorrow. Have you got anything planned. I hope so.

What’s the weather like where you are. I hope that it’s not too wet and that you’re not having problems. It’s not been too bad here today.

I’ve been working on my novel a bit today and tidying up my room. I want it to be nice and tidy when you two come to see us again.

Well, sleep tight, pleasant dreams,
All our love,
Grandma and Grandad xxxx