A Hand and a Ring

My Mum and Dad have got a lot frailer over the last two years. Thank goodness we got them to accept care support towards the end of 2019. Without that I cannot imagine what the last two years would have been like.

The pandemic has meant that during the last two years I have only been down once to see my parents. My number one priority is minimising infection risk to J, and Mum and Dad see a whole variety of people day to day. But it has got to a stage where there is a real risk as their health and fitness deteriorates that I may never see them again. So I booked an overnight stay in a little guest house (impeccably clean) some while ago.

Then on Sunday a call from a carer that Mum had had a fall, the paramedics were there, and both she and Dad were being taken into the hospital. Dad returned home later in the day, but Mum was admitted and is still there. She celebrated her 102nd birthday there yesterday.

So this is a bit of a different visit to my hometown. The longest journey I have made in a very long time. Visiting Dad at home - he is really missing Mum. And visiting Mum in hospital - no visitors allowed, but they are making an exception for my brother, sister and me as we all live a long way away. My brother and sister were visiting for Mum’s birthday anyway and left yesterday. And today was my turn. Mum’s doing well. She likes the bed, she likes the light room (and she has a room to herself), and the nurses and doctors are very nice. So all is right with the world, in one sense at least. I took a few pics, and love the extra.

Two years today since the first lockdown in the UK. We are still having to be very careful, so the hospital insistence on visitor limitations, mask wearing, and proof of a lateral flow test on the day was reassuring.