It’s been a busy time, both at work and at home. We’re still sorting out dad’s affairs and we’re organising this year’s Triciafest in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. Asking for donated raffle prizes is the worst thing for me…… but also the best. You get the people that just don’t bother to answer your request or make promises they don’t keep, but then you get the wonderful folk whose generosity seems to know no bounds. It’s going to be another great year……it will be our fourth gig (we missed one due to covid), and with £17,000 raised so far, the aim this year is to get our overall total over £20,000. We’re also gearing up to get the Riverbank Relatives Room officially opened at long last.
Now that we’re finally out of covid restrictions, 2022 is busy for other gigs and trips too. We have so many reschedules it’s crazy! The next one is next week and I’m ridiculously excited, not just because it’ll be a great gig but also because we get a wee trip away and I get time with my big sister. What could be better??
Anyone who knew me when I first very dramatically went off my feet following my grand mal seizure in January 2017, might remember that I was in training to walk the West Highland Way with my sister. It was all booked and I was upping my steps in preparation. Unfortunately the whole brain tumour diagnosis overtook things and I wasn’t fit to do it. My sister graciously waited for me but last year I confessed to both her and myself that I’m very unlikely to ever be able to walk 98 miles, no matter how many days we spread it across! I told her to ignore any military training she may have secretly undergone without my knowledge and to go on without me……. She has booked for her and her husband to walk it next year. My hubby and I are going to do the first bit with them……..the easiest 10 miles of the trip, and then we’re going to go on a wee Scottish road trip.
I think my dad would be very proud of our plans….. I miss him but think about him often. In fact, just half an hour ago somebody mentioned a Volvo on a TV programme we were watching, and a childhood memory popped into my head. When we were still living in Scotland (I would’ve been about 5 or 6), dad had a red Volvo. It was one of the really boxy ones, like something a child would draw if you asked them to draw a car…… boxy but good, right?? The reason I remember dad’s Volvo so well is because the left back door wouldn’t shut properly. My dad used bungee chords to keep it shut and we were warned not to sit near it, just in case…….. This was late 1970s, there were no seatbelt regulations back then. I can clearly remember the fear every time dad drove round a corner and my sister and I clung together, bracing ourselves against the seat in order to try and prevent ourselves from being thrown towards the broken door…….a fate that would undoubtedly, in our minds, lead to the bungee chords snapping and us been thrown out of the car to our certain deaths!! The memory made me chuckle. The world is a very different place these days. In today’s world, health and safety is a much bigger priority for people than it was back in the late ‘70s!
On the cancer front, other than a few niggles, I’m feeling good and keeping well. The beginning of the year brought the usual sinus problems and the changing seasons brought the usual changing air pressure headaches. I’ve had a bit of an ear problem too, but all things considered I remain fortunate in my ability to lead a fairly normal life. I’m still working four days a week, I sea dip weekly, I go for walks, I go to gigs, I read books, I enjoy life and I plan to keep doing so for many, many years to come!
I live a safer life. I don’t travel in cars with doors held shut with bungee chords, I don’t travel in cars without wearing a seatbelt, I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t even drink fizzy drinks. I generally eat healthy meals. I drink mostly herbal teas and, after a recent trip to visit our son in the Netherlands, I’ve discovered the deliciousness of making my own fresh ginger tea. It’s probably cheaper that ginger tea bags, definitely tastes even better, and I’m sure must be healthier. Hubby even bought me a mint plant so I can soak the leaves in boiling water and enjoy fresh mint tea too.
As I extol the benefits of a healthy life, I feel the need to confess I’ve just polished off quite a few squares of fruit&nut….. and I’ve got a bit of a mouth ulcer starting because I bit the inside of my lip whilst tucking into a caramel square the other day! As good friends of ours, the musicians of the mighty Nasa Assassin space pronk group, would say “I’m not giving up living to live”!!
Next scan due in June/July…… living with xx
