5-2 week

September 12, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

I’ve had a 5-2 week for the last seven weeks. 5N/5D at my mum’s and 2N/2D with my husband. Sounds like a holiday or travel package. Not quite. I live with my mum at her condo 5N/5D. My week with her starts on Sunday at 9pm and ends on Friday at 9pm. Brothers number 1 […]

Hand-written diary

September 5, 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

I stumbled upon my 2020 diary, a 2019 Christmas present from sister number 1. I was pleasantly surprised to find my touch-and-feel interactive diary, in amongst my other notebooks. Yes, notebooks that I used to write in and catalogue holidays. It feels strange even saying it. These days, I might scribble a reminder, a grocery […]

A year on

August 29, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

It’s August 2022. A year on and my mum is coming along as well as can be expected. I am super grateful. This time last year, my mum’s health took a turn. It all began after she had fallen off her queen-sized bed on 10 August. As she sat on the floor at the foot […]

Learning

August 22, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

I Googled the respiratory, pulmonary and circulatory systems. I think I learnt a fair bit from various websites about how the three systems keep me ticking along. Nothing warranted the online search. I did it out of interest. Strangely, that made me think about my school days, and biology. And, other subjects that I studied […]

Contraptions and gadgets

August 15, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

For no good reason I thought of the contraptions and gadgets I have bought and discarded over the years. Top of mind were my rather large android phone with a stylus pen, a PDA aka Personal Digital Assistant, an activity tracker like a Fitbit, an abdominal roller, stationery exercise bike and porridge soup cooker. I […]

Splitting pills

August 8, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

In the midst of splitting/cutting my mum’s prescription pills, I became aware of how efficient my pill cutter was. All I had to do was place the pills or tablets centrally under its sharp blade. Whack and there were two equal halves. Each time I used it, I couldn’t help but be reminded of a […]

Stepping up

August 1, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

Sister number 2 left last Tuesday. She arrived from Sydney on 1 June, almost 2 months ago, to be with our mum and care for her. I miss her as does our mum. I’m not sure if sister number 2 was fully aware of the extent of caring required for our mum. I’m also not […]

Saudia

July 18, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

My husband and I are safely home. Our bags, all 3, arrived safely with us. Big relief. Four weeks ago, we flew to London, my first trip abroad since 2019. I had written then that there were almost no seats and sky-high ticket prices on the 10 airlines that we had looked up. With no […]

Old and older

July 11, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

I’m guilty. Of not seeing, of not noticing, of not paying too much attention. I’m also guilty. Of not engaging. Of not asking questions. Of lacking interest. I’m more aware and empathetic now but still have a way to go despite becoming an older person myself. For sure, old and older people weren’t born wrinkly, grey, […]

Caravan holiday

July 4, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

I had my first caravan park/camp holiday with my husband and mum-in-law last week. I have heard so much about it that I was quite looking forward to it. My husband always spoke fondly of the many holidays he had had with his parents and sister. I think, for him, it was the childhood memory […]