Thursday, May 03, 2012
The pleasure of good works.
I am very pleased with today.
I am actually not really a good works sort of person.
But today I know I did somebody a great deal of good.......and it made me very happy too.
French Julie is old and her life has been turned upside down by illness. Suddenly everything that was important to her (the antiques centre mainly) seemed to have been taken away from her.
She is unable to grasp on to anything else.
She tends to sit in her kitchen, looking out into the garden, listening to the French Radio Station she likes.
Nothing else.
If I suggest going out - "Oh no, I can't do that!"
I took lunch with us - jacket potatoes, quiche, salads, ham.....and she thought it was fantastic. I don't think she has eaten so well for ages. A bottle of red wine was opened and away we went with conversation which ranged from frivolous to quite deep.
Lots of laughter, too.
I love her dearly.
But I feel so frustrated that she can't - or won't - conceive that life could still have interest for her; even without the antiques shop.
She assumes that she is waiting to die.
I have asked if she could please wait until we have had some time out!
At least she laughed at that. She appreciates that I don't push death under the carpet. When one is as old as Julie, of course death is on a fairly near horizon.
But nobody knows when and I believe life should be as full as possible until then.
At last I came up with a suggestion that maybe started a flicker of interest. She once had been in an antiques shop in Shere - familiar territory for her. It is a lovely village with a good pub.
"Just maybe" I sensed her thinking.
So, I am hoping that when we go again in a couple of weeks we might go to Shere and maybe stop for half an hour at the shop on the way home.
So, I had a lovely time with Julie again.
Now we are looking forward to the arrival of Ashley on Saturday and planning some things to do.
We intend to go to London for a guided walk round The Olympic Park. And one evening we will go to The Barn Theatre to see Hi De Hi. Our nephew, Antony was not going to be in this production. But things change - suddenly he has been thrown into taking the main role. he will be Brilliant.
I am actually not really a good works sort of person.
But today I know I did somebody a great deal of good.......and it made me very happy too.
French Julie is old and her life has been turned upside down by illness. Suddenly everything that was important to her (the antiques centre mainly) seemed to have been taken away from her.
She is unable to grasp on to anything else.
She tends to sit in her kitchen, looking out into the garden, listening to the French Radio Station she likes.
Nothing else.
If I suggest going out - "Oh no, I can't do that!"
I took lunch with us - jacket potatoes, quiche, salads, ham.....and she thought it was fantastic. I don't think she has eaten so well for ages. A bottle of red wine was opened and away we went with conversation which ranged from frivolous to quite deep.
Lots of laughter, too.
I love her dearly.
But I feel so frustrated that she can't - or won't - conceive that life could still have interest for her; even without the antiques shop.
She assumes that she is waiting to die.
I have asked if she could please wait until we have had some time out!
At least she laughed at that. She appreciates that I don't push death under the carpet. When one is as old as Julie, of course death is on a fairly near horizon.
But nobody knows when and I believe life should be as full as possible until then.
At last I came up with a suggestion that maybe started a flicker of interest. She once had been in an antiques shop in Shere - familiar territory for her. It is a lovely village with a good pub.
"Just maybe" I sensed her thinking.
So, I am hoping that when we go again in a couple of weeks we might go to Shere and maybe stop for half an hour at the shop on the way home.
So, I had a lovely time with Julie again.
Now we are looking forward to the arrival of Ashley on Saturday and planning some things to do.
We intend to go to London for a guided walk round The Olympic Park. And one evening we will go to The Barn Theatre to see Hi De Hi. Our nephew, Antony was not going to be in this production. But things change - suddenly he has been thrown into taking the main role. he will be Brilliant.
