Getting Away

My Little Einstein

 We spent two nights away for the first time since Mike's funeral in February. Not, as you might suppose, a luxuary break in a hotel with spar and fine dining, but in an Ibis hotel in Coventry; yet still, it was a good break and has given encouragement that we might manage more than sitting at home each night.

The visit came about because Edwin had to attend a "Lab Inovations" exhibition at the NEC on behalf of the Royal Society of Chemistry, where he bravely manned their stand and gave a talk to a large group of chemists on "Career development in the AI era". Naturally, he collected a number of freebies from the stands, and gave me a little Einstein, who sits proudly on my desk.

Having hailed from Coventry, I still have one brother there whom we met, with his daughter and new grandson. My other brother died two years ago, but we called on my sister-in-law who made a fine lunch.

It was arranged that I would then drive to pick Edwin up at the NEC. He had been due out at 4pm, but suddenly found he was booked to help dismantle the stand too, so he didn't call me till late. By then the roads round the NEC were totally jammed with roadworks, diversions, and people leaving, and it was dark, which form me means difficulty seeing lane changes, or indeed any directions. Within the NEC grounds, even the satnav seemed to falter, leading me up to several barriers, but no where near the designated pickup point. Sensing my panic, Edwin said to just stop and he would walk to me. Even then, he had to climb two fences, navigate through a Hilton Hotel, and scramble through a hedge to reach me. I gladly handed over the wheel and could relax again, as we picked up Annie and Edwin drove us back. Age probably raced past me a while ago, but because I don't do complex journeys now it had crept up unheeded. Even navigating parked cars in a little town like Clare can be stressful; I must become firmer in my resolve about what I can achieve when locked behind a steering wheel with no escape.