Things happen - death at Christmas
It's been a while since my last blog. Not far off two months. I've been twittering a bit - easier to do as the iPhone lives in my pocket 24-7 and I've written a review or two (ok, maybe 20) but in truth my time on this PC has been limited.
And the reason has been my mother. At the end of October she was taken into hospital after a fall and diagnosed with an infection (which had caused the dizziness that meant she fell). Well we thought that that was all but it was soon clear that her faculties were very impaired.
She didn't recover them when the fever was cured and she was diagnosed with advanced Alzheimer's. They tell me that the infection increased the speed of onset - I'm not a doctor but I trust they know what they're doing.
So we set about loooking for nursing care for her and visited a number of homes that could provide the level of care she needed. We even thought we'd found one - out by King's Lynn - and were going to visit it this week to confirm it was suitable.
And then we got THE phonecall. At 6:30am on Christmas Morning. There are not many phone calls you are going to get at that time and on that day - not unless you have relatives overseas which we do not.
My mother's health had taken a serious decline and she had passed away at 4am Christmas Morning.
It was an odd feeling. Not so much one of shock as we had been preparing for it since she was taken into hospital but strange. Okay, there's the expected mourning stuff I guess although I've never been one for manic histrionics or much visible emotional display - stiff-upper-lipped Englishman I guess.
But there's something odd. My father died three years earlier so my mother's passing leaves me parentless. We were never a close family (we got on ok I guess but it was never like the best friends almost relationships I've seen in some parent-child bonds even into adulthood). But being without parents is strange. The world's changed.
Guess it's time to start being the adult.
And the reason has been my mother. At the end of October she was taken into hospital after a fall and diagnosed with an infection (which had caused the dizziness that meant she fell). Well we thought that that was all but it was soon clear that her faculties were very impaired.
She didn't recover them when the fever was cured and she was diagnosed with advanced Alzheimer's. They tell me that the infection increased the speed of onset - I'm not a doctor but I trust they know what they're doing.
So we set about loooking for nursing care for her and visited a number of homes that could provide the level of care she needed. We even thought we'd found one - out by King's Lynn - and were going to visit it this week to confirm it was suitable.
And then we got THE phonecall. At 6:30am on Christmas Morning. There are not many phone calls you are going to get at that time and on that day - not unless you have relatives overseas which we do not.
My mother's health had taken a serious decline and she had passed away at 4am Christmas Morning.
It was an odd feeling. Not so much one of shock as we had been preparing for it since she was taken into hospital but strange. Okay, there's the expected mourning stuff I guess although I've never been one for manic histrionics or much visible emotional display - stiff-upper-lipped Englishman I guess.
But there's something odd. My father died three years earlier so my mother's passing leaves me parentless. We were never a close family (we got on ok I guess but it was never like the best friends almost relationships I've seen in some parent-child bonds even into adulthood). But being without parents is strange. The world's changed.
Guess it's time to start being the adult.
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