I sent a couple of letters out earlier this week to Sis and Other Brother to put them in the picture as to Humphrey and his demise.
I’d delayed in letting them know until we knew what we were up against, the prognosis, and what treatment lies ahead, and although the latter is still vague, I felt it was time to advise them.
I was a little nervous as to what their reaction might be, but then thought ‘It’s Family, so it should be OK’.
OB rang me today. He sounded anxious and concerned, but the more we talked, the more his voice relaxed and I could convey to him that I’m OK and in positive spirits.
He’s had his own health problems this year, as has his wife, so he hasn’t been able to visit my Mum for a few months. He does ring, but is unsure as to how much of their telephone conversation she remembers, and like us, doesn’t hear anything from Sis at all.
He put my SIL on who had overheard our conversation and wanted to talk to me.
She said how brave and strong I was, how upbeat and positive I sounded, which was very nice of her to say as apart from playing the piano a bit, she doesn’t know very much about me. Still, it’s early days I suppose as they’ve only been married 29 years.
Still, it was a good phone call, they are OK, and both have promised not to mention the word Cancer to my Mum should my name crop up.
I’m glad I’ve told them, and equally glad I left it until now to do so.
Sis on the other hand was another kettle of fish and Hubby didn’t really think it was a good idea to tell her as she can be quite ‘hostile’ towards me. It doesn’t help that we have totally different personalities and lifestyles, little in common, and aren’t close at all.
She too would have had my letter today, and taking the coward’s way out, I turned my phone off when I finished my call to OB.
Part of me was hoping she wouldn’t respond, and another part was hoping if she did, it would be by email, as I can cope with the written word from her better than a verbal exchange.
Sure enough there was a message in my In Box, under the heading Letter, so it wasn’t rocket science to guess what it was about.
My yellow streak was a mile wide today, and the yellow condom suit would’ve been straining at the seams to contain it because I read all the other messages first……… twice.
And replied to them where necessary.
Then we had a cup of tea.
And our evening meal.
Brave and strong? Pah! That’s me second from the left.
I opened it eventually, and it wasn’t bad.
125 words, 2 of which were to say “Mum’s fine”, 61 about her success at Slimming World,
7 referring to my attendance at SW, 5 concerning receipt of my letter, 4 starting and finishing off, and the remainder about her shock, wishing me luck with therapy, asking me to keep her informed, and glad that they caught it early.
As I said, not bad.
In her defence, I had mentioned SW in my letter to soften the blow of its content and hoping she was doing OK, so at least she answered my enquiry!
Families are complicated.
Yep. Officially, mine is classed as dysfunctional!
I don’t know anyone with a functional family. It’s just the degree that’s different.
🙂
I am glad the information seems to have gone over well (or at least as well as can be expected).
It is indeed a relief, and I can carry on as I have been. SIL has promised to send me her email address so I can keep them updated.
We choose whom we befriend… The older I am the more I realise that there’s nowt as odd as folk. X be well and keep strong. 😇
Since buying and living on the boat, we have made so many friends who have been absolutely wonderful over recent weeks. We are stuck with our families though, and nothing is like The Waltons depicted for us. Still, we accept what is.
Happy Sunday 😇😉
You too. Ours has been great so far, and the dog is exhausted after having two long walks today.
I had one short two mile one… not so much fun without a dog. 😯😕 We travel a lot so husb says we mustn’t. .. but I’m working on it. 😇
Maggie must be one of the most travelled dogs ever, as she came with us when we were house hunting in 2005 -7. We clocked up over 20,000 miles that first year. Poor pup was travel sick, but we discovered that giving her a scrambled egg for breakfast every day settled her tummy and we had no problems after that. The vet said it was OK provided it didn’t mess with her digestive system. For years the ding of the microwave had her sitting at attention for her treat!
Love it, we drive down to Italy and Spain and across Europe from England, John thinks it would be too much.
Ah, could be, especially in the heat. We certainly wouldn’t consider doing it again with a dog. I was anxious about her and the boat but it was unnecessary. She took to it like a duck to water!