Respite it may be, but rest I did not. After getting my affairs in order at home, and making sure mum was cared for I made a break for the border and headed for Linslade to see Graeme. Been a long time since I saw him, and with recent changes I thought it was about time I showed my ugly mug at the house. On my arrival it was only his dad in, but he was due home so I was invited in to wait.
Having met his parents on a number of occasions, and being "mature", we click so are comfortable talking openly. So I had a good long catch up with his dad first.
Eventually Graeme and his mum came home, and while he took care of business I had a long chat with his mum, again very open and honest, which was both informative and emotive to say the least. I thank them both for entertaining such an exchange.
Sitting down to talk with Graeme I suddenly felt either old or at least grown up. Talking sensibly instead of being surrounded by lairy cars or a food fight, but I'm not complaining. Its times like this that you realise what friendship is all about, and I hope the feeling was mutual for Graeme too.
The visit was short, but rich for me. Touching base with someone you care about but have not had much contact with for an extended period is a heartwarming experience, and as I say it defines friendship. Not needing to be close together, but never far apart.
I will no doubt return there very soon, as I pass the area quite frequently, so would be rude not to.
The parting hug, as much as I joked about it at the time, very much sealed the purpose of the visit for me, not much more I can say about it other than, for a man hug it was nice lol.
See you again soon sonny.
From there, the plan was to catch up with Rachel for a drink and some food, but given the time, and her distance from where we had agreed to meet, it wasn't going to happen that day. So I headed north to see if I could make the time slot I had agreed with Sammi. I was hopeful but again in reality it was never going to happen, but not through lack of trying I can assure you. So 1 for 3 at this stage.
Next idea was stay over locally and see if I could catch up with Sam on Sunday (unlikely as I knew she was busy, but never give up eh) Calling on Cadell first, seeing if I could stay the night with her (and be climbed on and bitten to death by lil man Archie) but again luck was down, and her sister was staying over, so back up plan Operation Travelodge was called for. Going through the list of the locals but not having a clue where they were I got Cadell to lead the way to one. Great, right by a football grounds lol. We grabbed a bite to eat from a very weird (by London standards) kebab shop and had a chat, while being abused by Archie. Noooo Archie... NOT the Pepsi Max!! Lol
Bedtime, but really not that simple, it appears the roads around there are the drag strip for the locals with their 1.1 speed machines with large exhausts lol. Now I can't mock because I spent so long on the scene it would be hypocritical of me to do so. But I remember the days when a loud exhaust was on a frickin fast car! Now days they seem to take forever to drive past, not unlike mopeds lol. Eventually sleep was had.
Now one thing I like about Travelodge is the 12 o'clock checkout time. No need to rush. Just lay about, don't get dressed and relax in any way chosen for a while. Now that's what respite is all about eh. Needless to say by the time I checked out I was chilled.... And ready to eat.
Planning what I was going to do with the remainder of the day was as painful as having teeth extracted I have to say, but eventually on emailing Macca and getting a reply my destination was Peterborough, to pick up the walker he had kindly collected for me days previous. My sincere thanks for doing that dude, again a demonstration of what friendship is. Was also lovely to finally meet his wife Jude too. Will have to catch up properly another day. And that A605 would be a naughty road if I was in the Scooby!!
Final call of the day, and finishing the weekend off was a trip to catch Rachel at last. Just down the A1M which I was using to leave Peterborough behind, so quite handy really. Zoomed down there to Biggleswade and finally caught up in a car park to a leisure centre lol. It was cold, and Liam was waiting in the car so it was never going to be a long chat, yet we managed to cover off a good few topics in that time, and delve deep into the minds of the carers that we both are, and discuss the mutual friendship we share with Graeme too. So as short a chat as it was, it was well worth the drive. Finished with a lovely hug, and dressed up beautifully with compliments from Rachel. You really know how to find my good side don't ya hun. Nice hug too, for a lil person. Maybe picking you up was overkill but I was enjoying myself, ok!! Lol I wil see you again soon too!
So a weekend of hugs, bites and deep emotion drew to an end. Thank you to everyone who played a part in this one, to those who entertained and hosted me, and a sorry to those I didn't make it to see. I will get back to see you all soon I promise you that.
For now, its back to the weekday reality of life.
Mum has her new walker, which after discussing with her last week and explaining the benefits of its seat etc she absolutely rejected... Now she is buzzing around the house with it, singing praises to the seat it has. Tsssk.
Her health however is not so simple. Her breathing is not good, and she is quite weak. Slowly going off her food again at the moment, but this is not the cause of the decline I don't think. She feels she might have a chest infection, but something is telling me that it could be a little more serious than that. Progression of the condition seems far more likely.
So I have arranged an appointment to see the GP tomorrow now, and we can explore the situation and options from there. The breathing isn't wheezy, its just short and awkward. Time will tell all I guess. I won't guess any more than that.
Right that should be enough of a read for anyone I think, so thank you for reading.
Thank you once again to Cadell, and just to say Archie at lunch was hilarious. It WAS a nice carpet, before it was showered with chewed sausage and yorkie pud. I expected him to be bad at eating but your display was shocking lol.
Thank you to Graeme and his family for their hospitality, and to Rach for standing in a freezing car park and all your kind words.. You don't look so bad yourself.
And thanks to Travelodge and the teddies... Sleep tight ;o)
Regards
Michael
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