The day after the hospital trip we both had the day off. Julia didn’t feel like doing much so we sat at home and watched TV. Little did we realise, but within days this would become official Government advice.
After an hour I cracked and went out. I had errands to run and, as Julia pointed out, although I was trying to be solicitous and empathetic, I can be irritating in large doses. It was a bit of a strain for me too, as solicitude and empathy are not my natural territory. I tend more towards grumpy and sarcastic.
Julia decided to go to the gym while I was out, but after walking to the bus stop decided that was enough exercise for the day.
Thursday followed much the same pattern, though this time I went to work and Julia walked to the shop with a borrowed shopping trolley in search of vegetables for tea. There was still a reasonable selection of goods on the shelves, apart from toilet rolls and pasta, but we have plenty of toilet rolls and enough pasta so why worry?
There was, at that time, no sign of the Government descending into headless chicken mode, or the impending retail apocalypse.
On Friday Julia was back in hospital having a number of tests, including two brain scans which found nothing.
When she told me that, I smirked.
“You’re going to use that as a joke on the blog aren’t you?” she said. She has a low opinion of me as a humourist.
“No,” I said. “What sort of man would make light of his wife’s ill health.”
I think we all know the answer to that question.
The flowers – primroses and forget-me-nots – are from the Mencap garden. We are on holiday at the moment but nipped down just to check everything was alright.