Me & Mine 2014; July

July began and ended with hot sunshine. But underneath the sunny skies a tiny cloud has followed me around, and lingers still. My 79 year old dad underwent complex vascular surgery on 8th July which almost took him from us. Aside from the difficulty of living a 3 hour drive away, I have found myself in the strange position these past few weeks of being the responsible adult. My mom is gone, my aunt is infirm and my brother was on a well-needed holiday in the Outer Hebrides. It all seemed so wrong. He is my parent. He takes care of me. Maybe not any more. I won’t bore you with the details, but although dad has most certainly progressed, we are still regular visitors to the Intensive Care Unit in Birmingham, where he is engaged in the fight of his life to get well.  They say that for every dark sky there is a rainbow. So, we’re standing underneath our sunflowers to brighten up the mood.  We also tried a ‘selfie’ at Ripley Castle with the remote control this week. We all got a little carried away. Two days ago we agreed an adoption ‘match’ with a little boy and his baby sister. Our brood of 4 is soon to be 6 and our bedrooms and hearts will be full. Pitiful beginnings of neglect, criminality and chaos which can never be exponged, are soon to be anaesthetised by our normalness. Dad really needs to stick around for August, September and October.