Rain or shine, well I don't mind, I'll never be alone
I have returned, after a few breathtakingly sunny and picture-perfect days with my parents back home. Sadly my Mum was seriously ill while I was there - she got bitten by an insect and she reacted badly - her arm swelled up and gained a horrible angry red rash and she just felt completely wiped out and nausea. When she had cancer a few years ago, the disease got into her lymph glands and as a result, she can't fight infections very well. She's on the strongest meds possible and is definitely on the road to recovery now but bless her, she was so apologetic about the face that she was house-bound during my visit. I kept telling her that it wasn't her fault and that it was just lovely to spend time with her. It really was.
It was also lovely to spend time with my Dad, I hadn't seen him since before he got seriously ill. His heart has been greatly weakened - he can't lift heavy objects or do much strenuous stuff at all, he's got to find the fine balance of doing some exercise but not too much and he has to walk all the time with a cane now. His Dad had to do that when I remember him as an old man. Dad definitely looks more fragile now, he's lost several stone in weight - a good thing as he was overweight before - and he tires so easily now. He'll be like this from now on, it's a frightening realisation of him properly getting older now. He may never be able to work again, his doctor has signed him off from work for another 3 months. Mum reckons he won't be going back to work again :( He'll have to find new things to occupy his days, he loves his gardening so maybe some careful pottering about out amongst the lovely plants and flowers.
I had a lovely day out with him yesterday. We went to the lovely harbourside area known as the Barbican, gorgeous and picturesque and perfect for tourists- loads of pubs and ice cream shops and places to buy kitschy pretty stuff. We went there a lot as a family when I was younger so the area is packed full of memories for me. We went on a gentle walk about the place, chatting and popping into shops. He bought me some homemade butterscotch fudge and himself a book and eventually we had lunch at an amazing pub. I managed to make a dent in a massive cheese ploughmans - bread, slabs of cheese, salad, pickled onion, chutney, and a pork pie, epic and delicious. We talked a lot and eventually pootled home for a quiet afternoon. It was great to just be back in my childhood home, spending time with my parents without anyone else around. I'm happy to try and jolly them along, to help keep their spirits up when they need a shot of fizzy energy during a difficult trying time, it's the least I can do really and I am more than happy to do so and more. I wish there was much more I could do, but it's in the hands of Dad really and his doctors and Father Time. I really do genuinely enjoy their company and have missed them as I haven't spent time with them since April - Dad's illness and the price of train fairs plus trying to get time off work made it difficult. I am determined to spend more time with them, hopefully they'll be able to visit us once Mum's fighting fit and if it's possible with how easily exhausted Dad gets now.
I'm tired myself, my journey there was delayed and massively crowded - I had to sit in the train's corridor for quite a while. I made friends with a sweet girl heading home after visiting her squaddie boyfriend in Salisbury. We never exchanged names but sat together and discussed many things - including her tattoos - and just kept each other company during a rather fraught journey. So thank you, whoever you are, for keeping me smiling and spirited during a patchy frustrating time. I only hope I did the same for you and didn't make things worse!
It was also lovely to spend time with my Dad, I hadn't seen him since before he got seriously ill. His heart has been greatly weakened - he can't lift heavy objects or do much strenuous stuff at all, he's got to find the fine balance of doing some exercise but not too much and he has to walk all the time with a cane now. His Dad had to do that when I remember him as an old man. Dad definitely looks more fragile now, he's lost several stone in weight - a good thing as he was overweight before - and he tires so easily now. He'll be like this from now on, it's a frightening realisation of him properly getting older now. He may never be able to work again, his doctor has signed him off from work for another 3 months. Mum reckons he won't be going back to work again :( He'll have to find new things to occupy his days, he loves his gardening so maybe some careful pottering about out amongst the lovely plants and flowers.
I had a lovely day out with him yesterday. We went to the lovely harbourside area known as the Barbican, gorgeous and picturesque and perfect for tourists- loads of pubs and ice cream shops and places to buy kitschy pretty stuff. We went there a lot as a family when I was younger so the area is packed full of memories for me. We went on a gentle walk about the place, chatting and popping into shops. He bought me some homemade butterscotch fudge and himself a book and eventually we had lunch at an amazing pub. I managed to make a dent in a massive cheese ploughmans - bread, slabs of cheese, salad, pickled onion, chutney, and a pork pie, epic and delicious. We talked a lot and eventually pootled home for a quiet afternoon. It was great to just be back in my childhood home, spending time with my parents without anyone else around. I'm happy to try and jolly them along, to help keep their spirits up when they need a shot of fizzy energy during a difficult trying time, it's the least I can do really and I am more than happy to do so and more. I wish there was much more I could do, but it's in the hands of Dad really and his doctors and Father Time. I really do genuinely enjoy their company and have missed them as I haven't spent time with them since April - Dad's illness and the price of train fairs plus trying to get time off work made it difficult. I am determined to spend more time with them, hopefully they'll be able to visit us once Mum's fighting fit and if it's possible with how easily exhausted Dad gets now.
I'm tired myself, my journey there was delayed and massively crowded - I had to sit in the train's corridor for quite a while. I made friends with a sweet girl heading home after visiting her squaddie boyfriend in Salisbury. We never exchanged names but sat together and discussed many things - including her tattoos - and just kept each other company during a rather fraught journey. So thank you, whoever you are, for keeping me smiling and spirited during a patchy frustrating time. I only hope I did the same for you and didn't make things worse!