No longer leukaemia….but isolation, Day 37

I can resist anything except temptation, it seems. It’s early morning – time to get up. It’s too tempting to stay abed, so I do. It’s mid-afternoon, and I’m peckish. An apple? Nah…..chocolate’s the thing. The evening gently slides in and overtakes the afternoon, and Quiz Night is thirsty work. Water? Tea? Coffee? Hmmm……..I don’t think so, thank you very much, it’s a Black Velvet cocktail for me. Delicious, but alcoholic – again!! Note to self: resist, resist, resist. Maybe tomorrow?

I know I am a soppy old soul, but really, Wednesday Quiz Nights are such a boost. Not only am I connecting with dear friends, but we’re having a proper giggle and some challenges to our grey matter. Who knew, for example, that the stage name of Paul David Hewson was Bono? Well, I expect you all did (and I know someone who definitely will) but we didn’t, and just groaned and then hooted with laughter when we found out!!

Quiz night is one highlight of the week. But daily highlights are the pleasure of chatting to our sons, in different e-formats, catching up with their differing philosophies of life. All heart-warming and thought-provoking – and strong. How did that happen, I wonder, that we are no longer the leaders? They lead, and we follow now; as it should be, I suppose, as age creeps up on us. Pleased and sad about that.

Old age looks like it’s beckoning, but we’re absolutely not ready for giving up on stuff, so we fight on. Unlike Mum, who seems to have abandoned all challenges, including the everyday ones like making a cup of tea, even. She smiles at me, weakly, and says, “Well, at my age….” and leaves the sentence hanging. So, I thought I’d better check with the doctor whether anything needed to be done just now. What are the symptoms? Staying in bed until lunchtime. Eating, then sleeping again. Teatime: eating, then sleeping again. Bedtime: drinking, then sleeping again. Oh….. that’s just lock down syndrome!!!

Actually, that’s not what the doctor said, but I thought it!! On a telephone consultation, the doctor was incredibly good and very patient; listened well and considered the management of Mum’s sleepiness carefully, before saying, ‘let’s do nothing now……let’s wait until lock down is over…..’. Ah, well.

But you know, it seems to me that lock down generates all sorts of feelings that, under normal circumstances, you’d brush off or deal with. I was galled, for example, to hear her say to the doctor that she was bored. Well, we can’t have that, can we?? First activity: a walk in the garden in the glorious sunshine. And today (we had to smile) she was like the Princess and the Pea, with the sun in her eyes at every stop we made…..I wonder which fairy tale will be next??? Watch this space!

Other than the ‘Mum-filled space’, we have managed very well today. John and I sat for a while, companionably watching the second series of ‘Save Me’. Then John was in his element spending a happy hour or two fiddling with his ‘project’, before filling the skip and trundling wheelbarrows full of ‘stuff’ from the bottom of the garden to the top, and onto the drive; and back again.

We are lucky to be able to enjoy the day – even with its frustrations – but we watched the news too and found ourselves still touched by the stories we heard and saw. Naturally, the most affecting stories are of those who have been infected by the virus and those who have died, and the effect on their families. God bless them all – every single one of the 4,451+ people who are fighting the infection and the families of the 759+ who have died. And God bless you all as you work through the daily restrictions we currently have in place.