As I move away from the one year anniversary and all that that reminder brought over the past couple of weeks, my focus shifts onto what is to come.

Health-wise, same basic focuses around the back pain and stiff finger joints, with some notable instances. I had my 3-monthly hormone injection, which was painful being administered, then the aftermath is a very sore upper arm. The last one left me in pain for almost 2-weeks, but we’ll see how this goes. That injection serves the sole purpose of reducing the testosterone levels, which helps keep the growth of the cancer at bay (hopefully!). A necessary aspect of remaining above the ground, so a bit of pain every 3-months is a small ‘price’ to pay.

My plans for life after retirement continue to evolve, with discussions taking place for two potential consultancy roles. These were not planned, but have cropped up. I am taking an open-minded view to both of them and will see what develops. Many discussions still to take place, but maybe I can do these part-time, whilst still enjoying the time I expect to have for my own pursuits. Is it nice to have these types of conversations, which are drawing on my (almost) 40-years of professional experience, gained in various large and small organisations - some good, some not so good, but valuable professional lessons learned. An interesting and unexpected development for 2024 and month one is not over yet!

The focus on finishing off Volume 6 of one of my book projects continues in the right direction, just slightly slower than planned. 2024 has opened against a busy backdrop, so juggling priorities.

One of the things not detailed last week, due to it being a combined catch up and lots to cover off then, was our very nice and enjoyable lunch last Sunday with my son Karl and his fiance Rachel. Good to have a social couple of hours and listen to their unfolding plans for their wedding, planned for later in the year. The impact of the cancer and the knowledge that it will take me at some stage, has impacted each of us differently. Karl has found 2023 very challenging, psychologically, and very understandable. He is a ‘hands-on’ kinda person and we have undertaken some restoration projects together, with others planned (hopefully). That gave us valuable and unique time together and things we can look at that belong to both of our combined efforts. He struggles to know that our time will come to an end (as it will for all of us). To have a normal lunch date and talk about normal, non-cancer, things made for a nice change and something I aim to have more time for this coming year.

We also had a catch up with Erin, at the start of the week. Erin was a former work colleague from the holiday company and also someone that has become a close friend. She did live in Folkestone and we had many social evenings when she lived there. She moved up north for a number of years with her (now) husband, but they are due to return to the sunny south this year. It was great to catch up on every aspect and have another nice normal social ‘event’.

The weekend that has just ended, seen us having our daughter stay with us longer than usual (we saw the grandkids as normal, but she stayed on for some adult conversation). A nice chinese carry-out was had, then some catching up on life, as with Karl and Rachel at the end of the previous week. My nephew recently moved to Dubai for work and we took the opportunity to have a video call with him. Another great catch up, where we got to see some of the initial images he has taken of there and a real clash of old and new. Him and his sister, together with my sister Susan, spent a lot of time with our family when we lived in Northern Ireland and after that, as they visited us and vice-versa. My sister is very close to Sandra and I and both of her children are as good to having ‘extra’ kids as you can get. Countless memories and experiences shared and it was nice to catch up with him and learn of his next chapter, a very exciting one for him!

All of those catch ups, face to face, or otherwise, take on a much greater degree of significance now and I relish each one, for what they are. Precious time with family and close friends.

I will take this opportunity to thank you all for the various comments on Sandra’s additions last week, really appreciated and nice to add a different perspective to my usual blurb.

Regards until next week

Peter