Feeling thankful
..for all kinds of things.
Thankful that I’m home, getting slowly back into “real life” and so far, at least, without lasting effects, even if, here in Gloucestershire, it has rained every single day of this year!
I’ve been especially thankful for our NHS, which, for all its shortcomings, was there for me as soon as I returned home. No, a fish and chip supper hasn’t been prescribed as part of my routine, but such simple pleasures have been more appreciated than ever, particularly when enjoyed in the fresh air up on the Common. My GP has streamlined the medication and continues to monitor the effects and the local pharmacist has been a great source of reassurance and further advice. I have further appointments, including a chest X ray coming up and all of this medication, treatment and consultation time have been included as part of my access to our National Health Service and no-one here has ever commented that “this treatment is expensive. Are you sure you want us to go ahead?”
It’s easy to take such things for granted, which makes me all the more thankful that my Hero has completed all the insurance claim forms, currency conversions and other related paperwork. Our insurers dealt with the hospital and hotel directly and booked our flights home too. But the total sum on our claim was eye-watering.
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We are both thankful that we cancelled our Madagascar trip, which would have had us flying to Mauritius tomorrow to begin a 21 day journey, finishing in CapeTown on March 3rd. Sadly, no lemur spotting for us, then, nor will we be walking amongst the grand baobab trees. But health always comes first and the idea of taking long flights and travelling anywhere whilst still stabilising medication routines and managing low energy levels was just too much. A disappointment for sure, but right now, it’s not the right time to take risks.
It’s more of a time to savour the good things in life, like seeing our sweet grandson discover the joys of puddle jumping on his way home from nursery.
And to be there with him and share the delight of toffee-marshmallow-rice krispie slices on his second birthday. Was Grandma really responsible for the sugar rush later? Oh dear…😘
It’s certainly times like this when family and friends are treasured more than ever. The postman became a regular last week, bringing flowers, good wishes (and more than one tear to my eye) and the house was filled with the scent of roses.
So here we are, a couple of days short of a month since all of this began. Last Saturday there was a prominent entry in my diary which I really didn’t want to miss, for I’d been looking forward to it since Christmas. My Hero had booked us tickets for Paddington, the Musical at the Savoy Theatre, London..
Would we make it?
We would give it our best shot, for sure! We drove up on Saturday morning for the afternoon matinee performance.
Fortunately, the Savoy Theatre is adjacent to the Savoy hotel, so we left our car in the care of the Savoy valet parking and enjoyed lunch at the River Restaurant before the show.
The doors opened at 1.30pm for the 2.00pm performance and we imagined we could just step from one door to the other. Hah! Not a bit of it! When did theatres begin this business of making everyone queue outside for such a controlled entrance? Why can’t we just step into a theatre foyer any more? On Saturday, the queue stretched to the end of Savoy Court, around the corner and along the Strand for some distance. And it was pouring with rain (of course). Needless to say, my Hero lived up to his role and stood in the queue for us both, whilst I sheltered under the awning until he came within sight.
What a show! We had excellent seats and loved every minute.
Get a flavour of the musical here and of Paddington himself here.
It was magnificent! The best way to draw a line under all the events of the last few weeks and to inspire me to move on and get back to “normal” (whatever that might be!)
