Well, it took me a while to get back here with another entry! My motivation is pretty low at present, I feel like half my energy is taken up with worrying about Mr. B & the other half with mundane tasks.
We had a good summer though! We drove up to Northern Spain to meet up with my family who came over on the ferry from England and stayed in a lovely house in the mountains with a big garden. Mr. B hadn’t been keen on getting a wheelchair, but I knew it would be useful, so ordered one in the UK and the family brought it over as a present for him (a bit sneaky, but he is now happy to use it when necessary). We had a great time. We left Mr. B on his own one day, with a ready-made lunch and everything to hand, and kayaked down the local river. We took our time, stopping at the riverside to snack & swim, and managed the full 14k stretch. We weren’t the only ones on the river, it was a popular summer activity! The company organising it met us at the end and took us back to the start point. Hot showers were very welcome!
My life isn’t very adventurous these days so it was good to be reminded that new experiences that don’t involve medical emergencies are still possible!
I read a book recently and this paragraph resonated with me:
“I wondered how many times that scene, with variations, had played out. Jum needing something done, Linda doing it. Months of it, each one tougher than the last because the longer the illness goes on, the more there is to do, and the less able Jum is to do it. The carer never complaining, because how can they when it’s their partner who’s dying? Not just them, either. Millions of couples, all around the world. One with cancer, dementia, whatever it is that comes, the other doing everything that needs doing, day after day.” Extract from “The Missing Piece” by James O’Loghlin.
