Ingrid

After some heart searching and scrutiny of financial situation, Ingrid has decided to retire at the end of the spring Term in five weeks' time or 25 working days from now. This is two years earlier than her age permits but we had always intended that she should retire before then - at least from permanent full time teaching. The teaching has taken its toll on my best beloved as obviously it had done on me. She is ready to give it up because she no longer enjoys it as once she did, so it is not just the present circumstances which have brought her to this decision.

I managed to get one response from a film extras' agency and am still pursuing this as a line of enquiry. I have also been asked to consider standing as a Libdem candidate in my borough so am giving this some consideration as well. I have an idea for a small touring professional theatre company using Hampshire village halls as possible venues. This idea is still in the development stage.

Ingrid is going to actively pursue the idea of becoming a wedding registrar. I think she would make a wonderful one - she relates quickly and well to people, she has a way of getting people through formal procedures without making them feel regimented and she simply has a feel for the whole wedding ceremony thing.

Slowly, after a dark period, the future is starting to look bright again.

It's only me

I am back in the cyberworld of blogs and writing under my own steam rather than relying upon Kitten to make sense of notes scrawled while lying prone in a hospital bed. I am very grateful to my younger daughter for taking on the responsibility of keeping my blog going - it helped in the process of recovery.
At the moment I am enjoying lots of daily minor triumphs that take me away from being a patient to being a normal person again. Today was a shower and washing my hair! I am up to 15 minute walks daily and this afternoon I am off to our friends', the Penroses, for a luncheon.
My best beloved has proved, as in most things to which she turns her hand, to be an excellent nurse. The district nurse has been tending to my hole in the throat every other day but yesterday pronounced herself so pleased with Ingrid's efforts that the latter has been left in charge of supervising the closing up of the hole.
The hole came about at the start of my operation when they tried to unsuccessfully feed a tube down the back of my throat into my lungs. Apparently my tongue proved too big and they had to bring in a specialist to cut a trachiectomy as an alternative.
This hole is healing rapidly under its own agenda as are all my scars. I qualify as a "good healer".
I am so proud of our little family unit. They have all pulled together so well and been so supportive of each other. This is not unexpected but the test cam rather out of the blue.
I am looking forward to the arrival of my little brother on Sunday as he takes over the daily nursing role next week to allow Ingrid to go back to work and to perform "Frozen" at the Arts Centre in the evenings.
Ingrid and I are looking forward to her being able to stop working full time in the Summer Term. We have always expressed the wish to spend more time together but had been thinking of that as being at least a couple of years off. An episode such as we have just been through shows that you have to seize the day now - who can say what the future may hold?