Birthday week, so buckle up, as we had a busy one!

Despite the many rabbit holes my mind has gone down, since being told I had cancer (not long after, had the terminal prognosis) and working through the various physical and additional mental challenges over the past 18-months, I am pleased to say that I managed to make it to my 55th birthday. The simplest of things - reaching another birthday, but something that is a substantial milestone, against the health situation backdrop. I stated almost at the start of writing this Blog, that every significant anniversary or birthday - mine and those close to me - is something that I mark with more importance, as I simply do not know how many more are left.

So, what did my birthday week look like?

We all hopefully have the chance to set up our homes to suit our styles, alongside providing comfort and a place to relax. That comfort element takes on much more importance, when health issues exist. Sandra has had increasing issues for more almost 30 years now, so we have adjusted over those years; my situation adds to those needs. When travelling, you quickly discover how necessary those comforts are and how much difference they make. We had a very challenging first morning, after staying in our chosen guest house. We debated leaving then and there, as the impact on Sandra was heavy. However, we persevered and remained for the second day, where we enjoyed Old Sarum, Wilton House and then arranged a meet up with my friend Bob (last seen in November) that same evening. Bob is also from Northern Ireland, but like us, now lives in the UK. Our shared vintage scooter and history interests always give us lots to catch up on, alongside the memories of our lives together, 40 years ago. To stay, was the right decision, as the day was enjoyable from start to finish. However, we felt we had seen everything of interest and fancied a night back in our home comforts, so we left one day earlier than originally scheduled. Key learnings from this trip, with regards to planning future ones.

We can recommend Old Sarum and Wilton House, if you like almost 1,000 years of history and are in the area. We did not spend much time in the city itself (Polonium Tea or the Novichok fragrance shop were not top of our list), besides visiting the cathedral on the first afternoon. That was good to see, but the most important thing was the chance to see an original surviving Magna Carta - one of 4 that survive. The importance of being able to see historically important documents has a great resonance with me, as I strive to create much less significant historic documents myself. On our way back out towards the motorway, we stopped off at the Army Air Corps museum to see their collection of mainly helicopters - many of those were frequent sights when growing up in Northern Ireland, buzzing around everywhere and frequently landing in the fields directly opposite our house. It was at the museum that I got to see another ‘old friend’, which was a Chipmunk T MK.10. That was a training aircraft used by the British Armed Forces and it was exactly one of those that I flew on various occasions when a member of the Air Training Corps (Bob was in the same squadron) back in the early 1980s. Belfast had Bulldog T.1s, which was nice, for those of us that got to fly them, but I have not encountered one yet on my travels.

Thursday was a day of rest for both of our bodies, with Friday being one for a trip out to the coastal town of Rye. Not too far away from us and amongst other things, it is known for its antiques. This is the first time we have been in almost 2-years and unfortunately many of the antique dealers are gone, or have morphed into the ‘routine’ shops that can be found in most towns; more lost unique character within UK towns and cities. We had a short visit from Alanna and her family, where we had some customary cake. The evening was spent adding some rare photos to my personal military signed photo collection, two of which were specific birthday pressies. I rounded off the day with watching the excellent classic Leon (Oldman’s best role in my opinion).

Saturday seen us out for an afternoon meal with Alanna, Dan and the grandkids, Karl and Rachel; a very nice way to spend the bulk of the day. That date (18th of May) is a key anniversary for me, as it was the date that my Mum passed away, this year made the 30th anniversary since that took place. It was a life changing occurrence for myself and it was the spark that lit a series of decisions which resulted in us moving from Northern Ireland and starting a whole new life. The correlation to my own current life changing situation is not lost on me.

Sunday rounded off the jam packed week, with Karl, Rachel, Sandra and I taking a short trip to Faversham for a vintage car show, held throughout the main town. Superb weather and a nice day out together. After coming home, I took my vintage Vespa out for a short ride in the glorious sunshine. It was a dual purpose ride, part of which was to test the impact on my body and specifically my hands. You may recall that the last time on the scoot, in September, was when the ‘rusty fingers’ began. Today’s short ride was good and all seemed okay, although I may change the gloves I use, to less restrictive ones.

A lot of normal events this week, intertwined with cancer-related reminders and challenges throughout. A very enjoyable 55th birthday week, especially as it gave me quality time with those closest to me.

Thanks for the continued support and interest in reading my unfolding story of life with terminal cancer.

Regards
Peter