Wonderful well for the state we’re in

“…independent for shopping etc. if I have to give up the car – I can’t really quite decide if I ought to stop because of eyes but in the meantime go on.”

Two years ago I slipped and broke both bones in an ankle and was in a wheelchair and incapacitated for almost a year. Though I recovered completely in the physical sense I think that I have not entirely recovered in the psychological sense!”

“So glad to hear that your eyes were ‘better’ with the different man – it is a completely hit and miss game as far as I understand it and one just has to trust them.”

She does have to have radiotherapy… and I am trying to say that the reaction won’t be nearly as bad as it used to be in my day when we centred the beam in a very haphazard way compared to modern techniques.”

“I cured myself eventually by announcing to the consultant that his precious blood pressure pills were killing me and I was getting lower and lower in spirits – so had tried without them on my own and found myself feeling better. So we abandoned them and I revived at once and am now full of beans – still short of puff but that is now put down to smoking all my life, until a year ago, instead of ‘heart’ which it was first thought to be… The greatest joy is to feel alive instead of permanently half dead and blacking out at the thought of doing anything! …thank goodness this nice consultant is amenable to being told that I don’t want too many of his pills – still having 3 different things to take each day despite knocking the worst one off: what would Maggie [Thatcher] think? I am sure they all cost the earth, and being ancient I get them for free.”

“Did I tell you that the eye-man had another go at me? I think with some improvement. This time he did it under a local anaesthetic. I must say it is not natural to allow someone to poke a needle into your eyeball!”

New arrivals

“I will tell you my news. I’m expecting another baby… The [others] are mostly pleased i.e. X wants a boy if it has to be anything and X wants a girl and X twin girls! X thinks it’ll disturb his homework and be a waste of money! Rotten little so-and-so… I’ve been feeling really tired and fat recently. I shouldn’t have put on weight yet as I’m only 2 months but I have and can only fit 2 pairs of trousers both with the front seam unstitched!”

[re a new baby in the family] “I have to say when I saw him, and in his photos, he reminds me of a beach ball. It is such an unkind thing to say, but he is a little round thing… No doubt he will be a dear little thing, just round.”

Baby
Baby

“…our daughter gave birth. A big boy… The baby came 14 days too late, but finely [sic] he is born in a hospital. Probably, he was very content in the womb, because there was plenty of amniotic fluid to swim in, like a tropical swim-paradise…”

“I had another boy…The hospital’s absolutely full so one night I slept in the doctor’s office.”

“… born in August. I did see him when he was a few days old, and he did look a dear little thing. He was a very stretched out, laid back sort of baby, who seemed quite casual about the whole thing. Usually they are sort of scrunched up and anxious looking at that age, I think (not really having had that much experience).”

Second childishness & mere oblivion

“This place is much like an open prison – full of dotty confused people – luckily I get taken out quite a lot. Nearly all the carers and nurses here are nice and just one or two sadists.”

the volunteer choir visits the care home at Christmas
carol singing at the care home

“… the carol singers form only at Christmas and go to various elderly people’s homes in the fortnight before Christmas. This has been rewarding and depressing. Today we went to a dementia wing, to entertain the residents. Half of our audience appeared to be asleep, but the other half really seemed to enjoy it, and were quite attentive. I hope they did, as it must be very boring for them many days.”

“…heard from X today and we are rather glad to hear that he plans to give up the estate – although it is lovely and proved an immense interest for him I do think perhaps it will shortly be a bit much – if he is getting as old as we are as quickly, if you see what I mean!”

“I nearly settled on a Help the Aged flat at X but fortunately they had all gone by the time I got around to writing, as I then began to feel better and couldn’t imagine why I wanted nothing at all to do and a warden to summon when in extremis!”

“Everything seems to happen! I am now in X Nursing Home… Forgive me for not writing – all happened so quickly – I will get in touch – please don’t forget me.”

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