Leave of Absence

I’ve been stuck up in Norfolk, away from the blog, and also from my immediate family for the past week. My mother had a bad fall just over a week ago, and is currently still in hospital. I took a week off work to look after my father, who has Alzheimer’s. There’s no internet connection at my parent’s bungalow, which meant the only chances I had to go on line were when dad and I visited mum in hospital.

The Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital offers free Wi-Fi for both patients and visitors, giving me a brief chance to catch up with what’s going on.

I’m back in Kent now; mum is slowly improving and I managed to arrange a package of  three times a day “home care” visits to look after dad. Luckily I’ve a sister that lives close-by who can pop in and keep an eye on dad, and also visit mum when her work schedule allows.

It was good to spend some time with dad, even if his conversation and memory aren’t up to much these days. I did think of dragging him down to the local pub for a quick pint, but he’s never been much of a drinker and besides he can’t walk far anymore. Tempted though I was to get a few bottles in, it somehow didn’t seem right, so on top of being away from the all-encompassing world-wide-web, it’s been a pretty dry week as well.

I’m just about to crack open a bottle of Fuller’s London Porter which, I’m sure, will taste all the better following my forced abstinence!