Blog 16 – cruising – or not?
It may have been noticed during all the episodes that there is brief mention of things that have happened during the past eighteen months which changed the outlook of the cruise considerably. Going back to what seemed content but hectic times, we, that is Lyn and I spoke of the possibility of a cruise to give the two girls a taste of something special.
We’d already had a cruise booked and we’re going through the monthly payment scheme quite comfortably so agreed that we’ll sort something out. Lyn found the ideal starter trip. Having booked and been disappointed on a couple of occasions due in the main to covid we eventually made the voyage. To be fair not the best cruise we’d chosen but it ticked an item off the bucket list -- the Northern Lights. I can’t recall whether we or mainly Lyn sorted dates and all things taken into account the cruise was planned, agreed and paid for (monthly) for September 2024.
It was after that that things went a bit pear shaped. A huge shock and great sadness overcame all the family including the abroad crews. Our eldest son, whom we imagined to be getting grips with his life and business, passed away leaving the family with enormous sadness at the loss of not only of a son, but husband and father. He will be sorely missed. With this terrible tragedy happening towards the end of the summer we tried to carry on as best we could, feeling grateful for every day we were still here and together to be a gift.
We started to move on slowly bringing the world back to a humdrum reality, with him always in our thoughts.
We had three breaks to look forward too, at the end of summer, the first being a break over Christmas to Australia to have new year with daughters 2 and 3 for the first time in many years.
Then fate took another turn towards the end of October, in the form of yours truly being rushed into hospital for an emergency operation, which was obviously successful and after a shortish period of time resolved and left me not quite as complete as previous but functioning on a different level.
As with all changes to your lifestyle brought on by unforeseen circumstances, you adapt. My adaptation was easy, just totter around the estate doing very lightweight jobs, trying not to get under peoples feet and attending chemo every 21 days. Outcome – ‘No evidence of C’. Nearly back to normal, keep on tottering.
Mid year was the worst time of my life. My best friend, wife, confident, better half for 37 years was taken by that b…..d disease, with Lyn losing the battle against ovarian and bowel cancer which from start to finish took her from us in 8 weeks.
We (I’ve) been operating on less than a quarter power, which is not what would be expected. So in the true essence of our lives together, we re-mount the equine seating arrangements, yank at the foot coverings, get the pedometer moving towards 10,000 ‘left, right, left, right’ per 24 hours, and get living because other people rely on us.
I couldn’t pass this point without saying that everyone has been fantastic, and now after 4 months I can almost function without tears and sense of loss, thanks to their support I am very slowly getting there.
All the support has pushed to finish the cheesecake book, now complete and printed, and dedicated to Lyn, who always encouraged me, never (well almost never) doubted me and was always there when needed.
So with the book finished, at the insistence of the family I started blogging. I hardly knew what a blog was until I started (I hear voices ‘you still don’t!’), but tried it anyway. Now I’ve been told I should carry on, which I will because I get great joy reminiscing and quirky connections with life in general.
So with the book on sale (limited to 100 numbered copies, with profits going in part to producing a second volume based on flower arranging and more cheesecakes - more on that later - and some to CRUK, and more on that later.
So now trying to run on an even keel, with the prep work for volume 2, and with everyday tasks and with arrears of blogs to get to you, a good night’s sleep is called for (that’ll be the day - or night perhaps), it’s up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire and sort myself out ready to start tomorrow.
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