That Was a Tough One

Long time no blog…

I promised for my own safety (and the reader’s) that I would not write anything over the past few months.

Mum’s illness (cancer) got much worse in May and after some time in St. Gemma’s, she finally passed away on July 1st, 2009.

Here’s a picture of us from early June. We had many good talks and reflections and mum was actually very happy at St. Gemma’s. The people there do an amazing job.

Mum & Son

Despite that, they were tough times indeed, both before and after. In fact there are many things that go through one’s mind when this kind of occasion arises:

What should I do to make sure everyone else is OK?
Is it right that I am crying like a baby even though I am grown man?
Where is [insert name here] when I need them?
Do I really need them anyway? Am I better keeping this all to myself?

And so on.

Truth of the matter is that, as far as I have learned, you can’t grieve properly unless you are alone. When there are people around – you just feel awkward and concerned that they too may feel awkward and embarrassed. At least that was my take on it.

The sub-strata of this section of the post could easily go on for another 5,000 words. So I’ll keep it short:

Losing a parent is tough. Apart form the obvious side of it, there is lots to do, tasks, organising, communicating. Be prepared to feel shards of emotion that you have never come across in your life before ever. And be prepared to face your own mortality.

The rest of this I will save for my book. Haha.

It’s not quite over yet. We will be taking mum’s ashes to Ipswich (where she spent a good part of her life) next week.

So, work goes on. Things progress. All good in the end. And with the help of family and friends – starting to feel a sense of peace and a need to get on with being happy.

Funny though, how the last people you would expect can be the most supportive and some you would expect to be full of concern – aren’t.

Bottom line – Everyone has there own life to live and everyone’s problems seem more important to them than yours. Live with it and get on with it! :-)

Flying?

I haven’t been flying since just after mum went to hospice but am planning to get back and complete that PPL very, very soon. I did manage to make a very rough video which was done so that mum could see what it’s like down at Sherburn. Here it is on YouTube:

We have missed some great flying days over the last 2 months. But I’m sure there will be many more to come and there is certainly no rush to get that license.

Finally I drew the line yesterday and went for the hair cut and so on. I post these pictures in the hope of raising a few chuckles

Plastic Surgery

The dreaded bleach stays on for 50 minutes. End result… A nice even shade of silver.

Going grey

If you think this looks bad, you should have seen it before. Haha.

That’s all for now.

Thanks for reading. I promise my next post will be more fun.

:-)