Mum

After the last posting I was feeling rather pleased with myself. A little too pleased as it turned out. First off, after two months of dicking around, we got a notice from the letting agency who manage our apartment informing us that it seemed the owners of the property wanted to sell up. We could sign a temporary extension or find somewhere else in the remaining few weeks of our contract. We love this place which must have the best views in London, and to leave it would be a real wrench. But what do you do? Register with a load of local estate agents and start the dispiriting process of finding somewhere new to live.

Everything got focused on last Saturday. We had umpteen viewing appoinments sorted through the day across the breadth of Richmond borough. We also had to collect our eldest daughter from her place in Twickenham, head over to Richmond Park to watch our youngest daugher and her husband take part in a 10K run (that bit was great). And this just happened to be the day that England were playing Scotland in the 6 Nations, which meant that Twickenham, handily placed at the centre of the area, was gradually closed off to traffic. It was to prove one of those increasingly fraught days.

By 5pm we’d had the last viewing – it had been a frustrating trail. We fought our way down Richmond Hill, over the bridge and crawled through Twickenham and on to Teddington and home. It took nearly an hour.  I said to Carol that I couldn’t be bothered cooking and would order a take away. As I got the stuff out to set the table I noticed the roses which I’d bought for Carol a few days earlier had all died. They were fine earlier in the day. Odd I thought that they should go just like that.

I popped out 20 minutes later to collect the order and when I got back Carol’s face was ashen. She told me my Dad had just called and that I should call him. I knew what it meant. My mum had died after a long series of health problems including several strokes, heart attacks, cancer…. you name it. She’d fought it all bravely and now she was gone, suddenly, like the roses.

Isn’t it ironic; I’d stopped writing partly because my mum’s condition over the last year had left me feeling empty. Having seen her condition stabilised I’d felt OK again about re-starting the blog postings only recently. And almost immediately she’s left us. No matter how much someone’s passing may be expected, it’s still a shocking experience to have to face up to finality.

I’ve been away for a few days helping with arrangements for her funeral next Wednesday when we get to say our final goodbyes. No more postings until then.

pp

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