IT HAS been a horrible few days for my family.

Not the sunniest start to this week’s column, I know, but sometimes it is better to be up front about these things.

My father-in-law has just been diagnosed with a horrific, terminal illness and time is short for him.

It is the devastating news we were all dreading and now it is a reality.

The next few weeks are going to be difficult to say the least.

This is what being a grown-up is all about and I just hope I can give him, my husband and mother-in-law everything they need to help them through it.

I have been part of their family for almost ten years and the thought of my dad-in-law not being around for much longer is truly unthinkable.

He has always been such a big personality; loud, fun, outspoken and the last man standing at any party.

I have seen it all since I became his son’s partner, including him doing the ice bucket challenge wearing nothing but a monkey posing pouch.

Think Brian Blessed in a chimpshaped thong and you are pretty much there.

That image has been burned into my retina for all eternity, but I am glad I was there to see his cheeky face as he, and the pouch, were drenched in freezing cold water.

Above all though, he is the ultimate family man and would give you his last pound if you needed it more than him.

Actually, we could all learn a great deal from him when it comes to selflessness and positivity.

He has suffered some awful tragedies, including the loss of his eldest son, and has somehow managed to come out fighting, determined to live his life and keep the party going.

Life without him will quite simply be much duller.

My husband is cut from very similar cloth, so his legacy will live on.

Early indications also suggest my six-year-old son is a chip off both blocks, so we will still get to see plenty of his grandad’s zest for life.

I lost my darling mum to cancer nine years ago, so have lived through this horror once before.

It amazes me I have survived on this planet for almost a decade without her, but humans can be resilient creatures when the you-know-what hits the fan, can’t they?

At times like these, aside from the sadness and grief that washes over you in waves, the other thing that hits you hard in the face is perspective.

A whopping great reminder that we are only here once and we need to bloody well grab every opportunity with whatever limbs are available to us.

I know, I know.

I am starting to sound like one of those terrible, life-affirming memes our timelines are littered with these days.

But there is no escaping the fact when something awful happens to someone close, you cannot help but take a good look at yourself.

I was born a worrier, and it is this sort of thing that reminds me to get a grip and get on with it.

Does it really matter if I left the wet washing in the machine for 24 hours?

Will my friend really stop liking me because I forgot to ask how her appointment went with her GP about her verruca?

What will actually happen if I run out of time to bake a cake for the school summer fair?

Nope, no and nothing whatsoever.

It is this kind of nonsense that pops into my head at 2am and keeps me awake for an hour.

I know I am not the only one, but some of us are worse than others for constantly fretting about the small stuff.

Then you hear news that is genuinely worth worrying about and suddenly nothing else matters.

It reminds you how precious this all is and gives you a massive kick up the butt.

My husband is already talking about selling up and buying a boat so we can “see the world.”

That may sound a little dramatic, and totally unrealistic, but I do understand his panic.

He turns 40 in a couple of months and is now faced with the prospect of losing his amazing dad.

This is one of the biggest ordeals he will ever experience and he does not want to waste any more of his own life on the silly little things.

It is all relative though, isn’t it?

Those silly little things fill in the gaps when we have nothing big to stress about.

First world problems, if you like.

So long as those silly little things don’t get in the way of the good times when they do roll around, that is all we can really ask for.