Friday, February 06, 2009
Meeting up with Sylvie.
Today we met Sylvie in Asda - a chance meeting, although she lives very close to us. She has lived close to at least one of us for most of the last 65+ years.
Let me tell you a little about Sylvie.
She lived close to Bill's family when he was a lad. You could say that Sylvie was Bill's first girlfriend!
But they grew up and went their separate ways and Sylvie's family moved a little further away.
In 1966, Bill and I, not long married, moved into a flat at the end of Wakehurst Drive. And across the balcony lived Sylvie with her husband, who I had vaguely known from my own school days.
Again our lives came together but no bond of bosom friendship was formed and when we moved hardly further than across the road our lives ran on separate lines.
Sylvie and husband divorced.
We would always chat when we met in the street - walking up to the local shops together on a number of occasions.
Sylvie was diagnosed with Crohns Disease and had a bad time.
But she had her circle of friends and work and activities. The closest friend was Pat - another divorcee and they lived together and shared their lives for many years.
She entered back into our lives a little when Dee and Andrew were in Crawley and had got involved with an animal sanctuary. Sylvie and Pat also worked to fund the sanctuary and to care for animals.
And so our lives collided and then went apart again and again.
Recently we found that another ex neighbour of Bill's worked in the pharmacy we use and she also was in touch with Sylvie. It was from there that we learned how ill Sylvie's Pat had become, of how she had been taken into the hospice and died.
It was from the same source that we learned that Sylvie herself now has cancer and is being treated at Guildford.
I really meant to call on her - but you know how I have been this winter. If I had to make a decision I would dither - and think, well maybe tomorrow.
So it was good that we bumped into her in Asda.
She came home with us and we spent a long while chatting. She is a lovely woman with a bright, inquiring mind and good company.
She is up beat about her cancer. "Today I woke up, and that is a bonus" - and she will make the most of each day. I was quoting just that sort of attitude about how I tried to view things, only the other day.
Who knows at this stage if she will make it - who knows if I will? I know my outlook certainly seems much better than hers at the moment.
The day has been grey and gloomy - damp at times. Later this afternoon wet snow fell and is covering the ground.
We know that the shop opened today and that Bill sold the Mamod traction engine he bought at Ford 2 weeks ago.
We would like to go to Ford in the morning - it rather depends on how snowy or icy the world looks.
I have suspicions that the 3rd sort of calcium supplement I have been given is causing the same sort of gut problems as the previous two. I must keep on going with it for a while longer.
Let me tell you a little about Sylvie.
She lived close to Bill's family when he was a lad. You could say that Sylvie was Bill's first girlfriend!
But they grew up and went their separate ways and Sylvie's family moved a little further away.
In 1966, Bill and I, not long married, moved into a flat at the end of Wakehurst Drive. And across the balcony lived Sylvie with her husband, who I had vaguely known from my own school days.
Again our lives came together but no bond of bosom friendship was formed and when we moved hardly further than across the road our lives ran on separate lines.
Sylvie and husband divorced.
We would always chat when we met in the street - walking up to the local shops together on a number of occasions.
Sylvie was diagnosed with Crohns Disease and had a bad time.
But she had her circle of friends and work and activities. The closest friend was Pat - another divorcee and they lived together and shared their lives for many years.
She entered back into our lives a little when Dee and Andrew were in Crawley and had got involved with an animal sanctuary. Sylvie and Pat also worked to fund the sanctuary and to care for animals.
And so our lives collided and then went apart again and again.
Recently we found that another ex neighbour of Bill's worked in the pharmacy we use and she also was in touch with Sylvie. It was from there that we learned how ill Sylvie's Pat had become, of how she had been taken into the hospice and died.
It was from the same source that we learned that Sylvie herself now has cancer and is being treated at Guildford.
I really meant to call on her - but you know how I have been this winter. If I had to make a decision I would dither - and think, well maybe tomorrow.
So it was good that we bumped into her in Asda.
She came home with us and we spent a long while chatting. She is a lovely woman with a bright, inquiring mind and good company.
She is up beat about her cancer. "Today I woke up, and that is a bonus" - and she will make the most of each day. I was quoting just that sort of attitude about how I tried to view things, only the other day.
Who knows at this stage if she will make it - who knows if I will? I know my outlook certainly seems much better than hers at the moment.
The day has been grey and gloomy - damp at times. Later this afternoon wet snow fell and is covering the ground.
We know that the shop opened today and that Bill sold the Mamod traction engine he bought at Ford 2 weeks ago.
We would like to go to Ford in the morning - it rather depends on how snowy or icy the world looks.
I have suspicions that the 3rd sort of calcium supplement I have been given is causing the same sort of gut problems as the previous two. I must keep on going with it for a while longer.
