Sad family news

We learned on Monday evening that my mother in law, who has had two incidents of cancer in the past, has a new tumour which is inoperable. She has been told by the oncologist that she is unlikely to survive six months. She is very calm and accepting; I think she's been expecting this since her first diagnosis of cancer six years ago.

We told the children on Tuesday night. Tessa is very upset. Josiah is silent; I don't think he's really taken it in. He doesn't seem to want to think about it. It's hard to know what to do for the kids to support them. I don't want to be melodramatic, making things harder than they have to be, but I'm conscious that this worse than anything I experienced in my childhood - Josiah and Tessa have been very close to their Nana since we moved here six years ago.