Wednesday, 30 September 2009

Weather in Lewes, E. Sx. United Kingdom

Cloudy and grey Max temp. 16 degrees

Weather in St. Remy de Provence, France

Fine, sunny and warm. It’s a no brainer as to where I want to be.

The carer is late, I drag myself out of bed and knock on dads door to prepare him for getting up.

Every morning I wonder if he will wake up.

The bedroom floor is awash with pee, a result of changing the carpet to non-slip vinyl. The down side of this is that there is no carpet to absorb the liquid so the pee gets absorbed into the bottom of the divan as well as the mattress. Where did I put the castors? Why did I take them off?

Last month we had to cut bits out of the carpet out. My friends seemed to find this hilarious, a carpet with holes in it.

I make some tea, none for dad otherwise it will delay him getting up. Today is a Phoenix Day Centre day and it is as important for me as him. He goes three days a week

and it is my lifeline.

The carer arrives and charges up the stairs, her cheerful voice heralds flurry and a belligerent attitude from dad. He doesn’t want to get up, he says ‘Ok’ and then carries on comatose. I join the fray and remind him that he has an outing to the Phoenix Day Centre. He waves to me from the depths of his smelly bedding. 15 minutes of cajoling, threatening and general 'small child' tactics gets him to swing his legs round while the carer heaves him up, protecting his modesty with a large towel. The only time he moves fast is when he hops from bed to bathroom. The shower is underway. I return to my tea and a few minutes in bed, relishing the moment of peace.

After the carer has served breakfast of scrambled egg on toast she runs off to her next client and I am left trying to encourage hair brushing and teeth cleaning.

I check the made bed, it is sopping wet, how can she have missed that? I change the bottom sheet, and the mattress protectors. I leave the mattress open to air.

It still smells!

The Phoenix rings in advance of arrival to ensure he has his shoes on. I open the door and say “Come along dad, they’re waiting” I wave to the driver and see a coach load of elderly faces all waiting to see how long it will take to get dad out of the house. He checks his pockets and walks to the door before turning round and heading back to the mirror, patting his pockets for his money. He has no money, ever. ‘Hurry dad, they are waiting’ I say in embarrassment. ‘Well, let them wait’

He’s gone. I collapse on the settee.