The Corridor

I wandered this corridor a few times every day to stretch my legs after sitting for so long.
Behind each of the 10 doors was a patient going through their own challenges that life has thrown to them that lead to them being cared for in the Palliative Care Unit.
The staff are fabulous, the conditions are ideal for what the patients need and the families are allowed 24/7 access.
There are Christmas decorations being dusted off before being suspended from the windows and shelves.
Behind the door of my brother's room, I found myself in the position of having to prioritise his personal belongings as to what was to be given to who and when.
Worst of all was that all he had in the world was held in 3 bags.
As an avid reader, 2 of those bags contained books waiting for their pages to be turned with an infectious enthusiasm for the written word. The new Madrugada Cancer Charity shop in Portimao was the chosen place for these as they are desperately trying to raise funds to be able to set up the equivalent of the Maggie's Centre in the Algarve as there is nothing like it currently available.
D's clothes were folded and placed safely into the remaining bag for the hospital social worker to use for other less fortunate patients.
And lastly, I had to put together a collection of clothes that I placed into the wardrobe that would be D's last outfit chosen for his funeral which included his favourite jeans, shirt, waistcoat and his legendary cowboy boots.
This was an awkward situation as D was still battling to be with us longer, we were having to go back to Scotland and if the inevitable happened we needed to make sure everything was in place to make the situation as easy as possible for all.
We left his room that night saying "see you tomorrow morning" but before that we had an appointment with an International Undertaker.....