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and last updated January 28th., 2003.
WELCOME TO MY DAY..
IT IS NICE TO HAVE YOU SHARE IT WITH ME...
Well folks..the Australia Day Weekend here..exactly a year since I found myself faced with a colostomy or rapid, unpleasant demise, so this seems like a good time to resurrect this diary page..
It was interesting, to see her support group at the first Court hearing. Apart from her childhood best friend/bridesmaid, on a short visit from Sydney, her elder brother and second daughter and mother, all to be expected, she found her first father in law and her second husband ready to stand up and be counted.
Makes for an interesting family situation, to be sure, six kids to be rostered to three different fathers and four sets of grandparents, with each child having at least two homes.
Then we lost my mother in law after a long, slow decline:
The funeral had to be delayed to allow our son, David and cousin Alison to come home from Abu Dhabi and Korea, respectively, though, in the end, David was unable to get a flight in the week before Xmas, and Alison couldn't justify coming so far, so soon, in a new editorial job, when she will have to return for her brother's wedding later in the year..
It was a civil ceremony, with a sensitive lady celebrant, and a lovely modern setting, and a sunny day, and, while it was sad atmosphere, there was a sense of gratitude and relief, too. It wasn't a tragic death, in the sense that the loss of a younger, full-of-life person would have been, for Lorna had been tired of living a long time ago, and , as Alison's emailed message stated, her body had finally given up the battle whereas her spirit and love of life had departed long ago.
But catching up ,(and patching up), with all the relatives, so close to Xmas, meant that it didn't matter so much that we only had two days off this year, because Fiona had decided to have Xmas dinner at her house, and , anyway, our family rejoicing was kind of overwhelmed by the bereavement, plus the closeness-to-term of Chris's wife Lizete, who didn't make the trip down, plus the complications of getting Fiona's kids to their various other families, who all wanted them for Xmas lunch, plus the separation from baby Claudia, with which Fiona was not coping well.
Beside that, there is now more to tell than just the work, eat, sleep, bit!
First, our daughter's increasingly rocky relationship finally broke up with a vengeance, mostly over her partner's treatment of the five of her six children that DON"T belong to him, and , while it was a relief to us that something was finally happening to relieve an unendurable situation, we never enjoy these breakups. I mean, one tries to convince oneself that each of these sons in law is the same as a son, and t hen one finds oneself going to court to get free of him..
Hell of a way to get a fan-club together, though!
And all using a car that is definitely on its last legs!
KNIGHT , LORNA BEATRICE,(nee Campbell).
On December 13th., peacefully, in the loving care of Balmoral Grove, Grovedale, and in her 99th year, dear wife for 65 years of Don,(dec.1998), caring mother of Douglas and Diane,(dec 1997), mother in law of Robin Knight and Max Hetherington, grandmother of Fiona, Chris and David Knight, Stuart,(dec) Gary, Joanne(Taylor), Ross and Alison Hetherington, and proud great-grandmother of 11,(almost 12), healthy great-grandchildren..
And we needed to have it on the Sunday, since Doug couldn't get a reliever so close to Xmas, either.
And then I upset Fiona and all the other adult members of the family by letting the kids open their presents on Christmas Eve, since they were at our house for dinner anyway!
And the day itself didn't start too well when Fiona had to phone me to tell me that the big easycarve turkey roll I had bought for Xtmas dinner and which offer to cook for her had been rejected, had already been eaten--by the dog!!
And the day kind of went downhill from there.
I mean, we ate together, but my lips are sealed as to all the things that happened, that should not have happened, before we did!
So, truth to tell, we were kind of glad to get back to work!
The breakup meant that work in the family restaurant business was no longer available to Fiona or the girls, so we have Stephanie and Maddie back working in the pharmacy weekends and holidays, and they came back with us after the two days off to help pack away the Christmas stock.
And the warm summer weather meant that the pool and outdoor living areas are getting some use this year..good!
And grandaughter Maddie celebrated her 16th birthday in a house where teenagers were welcome once again....
....particularly one particular teenager.
And we welcomed baby Trinity to the family on January 3rd,
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And we have seen rather a lot of Trinity because she isn't fitting into the family routine at my son's house quite the way they had envisaged.
Though it seems to me to be some kind of poetic justice that my nightowl son has fathered a child who snaps awake at midnight and wants to play all night!
Must be in the genes, I tell him.
And because there ARE some things that aunties and grandmothers seem to be able to do better than tired new parents, Fiona gets to give advice and I get to do a bit of baby-holding between midnight and 4am...
And showed what she thought of it all.
and so Trinity made her on-camera debut
at a very early age....
As for Dr. B and his plans to revisit Australia....
I have given up making accommodation bookings for him, since the saga of his father's mishaps continues.
Mr B. Senior, determined to remain independent, but given, lately, to fainting and forgetting, often with traumatic results, was nursing a broken arm and collarbone,last week, followed by the insertion of a brand new cardiac pacemaker, and I wrote, here, that he was reluctantly considering the ban on his driving anything fourwheeled fast, or otherwise dangerous!
But the day after I posted this diary, Dr B messaged me to say:
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I have a bit of bad news honey. Dad passed away last night. I found him out behind one of the barns this morning. He had apparently gone out to check on some water pipes and became confused and then either had a bout of syncope or just tripped and fell. In either case, he was apparently unable to get up and spent the night lying flat on his back on the ground with a very thin jacket and died from apparent frigid exposure...... .................It is so stupid and frustrating that he is dead. With his shiny new pacemaker that was in his body for less than 120 hours..... the $3000 installation of the ADT security system which included a watch fob transponder with a "PANIC" button on it to call EMT's when you fall and cannot get up was lying useless in his top bureau drawer....... |
Poor Dr B. He had worked so very hard to keep his father alive, and with very little thanks, I felt..
But he shouldn't feel bad. The old man's ordained time must surely have been UP, his use-by date passed. For how often is it that one can freeze to death in Alabama?
As Dr B. said..one has to be VERY selective with one's dates!
So, once again, I somehow I can't see Dr B being able to leave for some time as there will be all kinds of sorting out to do now...
Just as well I sent the jumper I had knitted him to Alabama, thinking
"They are having a really cold winter there, poor things!!"
But I didn't know, then, HOW cold it was going to get for Dr B!
Truly, in the midst of life we are in death, and all that...
Love to everyone ,and everyone on our side!
-from
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©Robin Knight, 2003.
