Friday

Had a disturbed night due to The Dog getting up and wandering around in the early hours. Couldn’t work out what had disturbed her. Getting up in the night normally means she needs to be taken out for a wee but she declined the offer preferring to sit and have a cuddle before going to her beanbag for an hour. She did allow herself a few low-level woofs so maybe she’d been disturbed by something I couldn’t hear outside. Perhaps our hedgehogs are back.

However, having been woken up in just the wrong part of my sleep cycle, I couldn’t get back to sleep. I made a pot of tea instead.

One of the things that was making my head too busy for sleep was remembering that I hadn’t yet done as Lesley had asked and sent out copies of the eulogy for her dad that she’d read at his funeral. Copies were to go to family members who weren’t able to make it to the service in person and also to the people who’d been so impressed that they wanted to read it again.

And that there was the problem. It was good. Very good in fact and everybody that’s seen or heard it thinks so too. The fact that nobody knows that it was me that wrote it is really starting to sting hard.

Thinking about it though, keeping that detail under wraps was the right thing to do. If Lesley’s sister had known then the eulogy couldn’t and wouldn’t have happened. There would’ve been a meltdown of epic proportions. The fairest and easiest way of keeping the news from her was not to tell anyone at all. But it’s done now and Lesley’s sister has gone home. In fact she was telling people after the funeral service that she wondered whether she’d ever come back to England and Lesley’s already told her that she wouldn’t be visiting her while we had a dog and while I wasn’t welcome. Yeah, I noticed the order of priority too – leaving The Dog behind was more unthinkable than leaving me. I’m comfortable with that though.

But the quandary remains… How long will I be able to keep quiet? I’ve written stuff that I’m very proud of before but have always had the credit for it. You know I wrote it though.

Just don’t tell Lesley’s sister.

Author’s Note

My Mum was in a nursing home in the Thames Valley for a year and a half until she passed away in December 2024. My Father-in-law went into the same home the following January. But Lesley’s sister didn’t approve and made the situation so awkward that he had to be moved. He passed away in March 2025. Names and locations have been changed or hidden to protect the identities of those involved.

Image Credit

Original Image by Nick Gilmore. April 2025.