Matthew shares some good memories

 

Seeing the sights of London together

Happy birthday to Edwin in absentia - tonight he is celebrating with a dinner in Madrid; and congratulations to Mike and Ryan who have sent an invitation to join them in December to "tie the knot". 

After my separation and move to Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Matthew faithfully visited every weekend without fail, and continued to visit when we moved to Clare and later Kent. Now he has sent a special get-well card with a poem he has written about his memories of some things we did together. It is a beautiful, moving recollection and brought back so many memories of happy moments we spent together, and I am proud to reproduce it here. I wish I had done something similar for my dad; I always took him for granted, and all the things he did for us and the moments we had together. Thank you Matthew.

MY DAD

Making me proud,

Keeping me safe,

Showing me love,

And so many firsts,

My first time abroad

My first Judo lesson

My first kebab – that’s a big one!

So many memories,

Climbing Roseberry Topping on his shoulders and,

knowing I’d be OK even when he slipped!

Sitting in a dinghy in the sea at Saltburn and,

knowing I’d be OK even when I got flipped out!

Feeling his had reach through the water and pull me back up!

Riding the American Skyliner at the fair – I loved every minute!

But dad didn’t – he was sick and in bed for three days!

Teaching me to swim, which took some patience on his part,

Then buying me a Transformer toy when I did my first full width

of the pool!

Helping him to move house – several times,

Driving seven hours to visit in Kent, just a few weeks after

passing my test

Trips to the Science and Natural History Museums,

Interests we both share and soch a wonderful feeling

Discovering new things together,

Making me proud,

Keeping me safe,

Showing me love,

That’s my dad!

How once we were

 Poor Ann remains ill, coughing, nausea, and loss of appetite. This afternoon, she did a third Covid test and this time it was positive, with a bar even stronger than the control bar. So now we are both lying about, getting drinks for each other, and trying to buck each other up. At least I feel a little better since I've started the antivirals, but Ann is in a bad state today.