Fun and games with Elisa - In the name of Thiago - Day 7
In the name of
Thiago
Fun and games with
Elisa – Day 7
One thing I’ve found
in this grieving process is that you experience such a wide variety of emotions
and you never know when they’re going to hit you.
So today I’ve been out
with the big man (see yesterday’s blog) taking Elisa ice skating and then
dancing. Due to him living in Australia for the last 17 years and not
travelling around much in that time, Dad’s never really had much contact with
his grandchildren and as I wrote yesterday, sadly he never got to meet
Thiago.
My sister Holly and my
brother Judd have done an amazing job in getting my dad back on his feet since
he returned to these shores in October, but there’s plenty of work still to
do. He had been living on his own for a long time and has let himself drift a
little. I’m not sure I’m up to the challenge of continuing their good work but
needs must and it is most definitely my turn!
So I figured it was a
good time for him to see what Elisa does when she’s not in school and to
hopefully start to encourage a bit more of a connection between them. It went
pretty well. The old man’s going to be staying with Angelica and me for a bit
while he finds somewhere to live. Now that phrase ‘a bit’ does make me feel
very uncomfortable.
Anything involving my
dear old Dad doesn’t tend to happen in a rush and at some point I’m going to
need to get on with my life just the same as he will with his. But for now, we
just take a day at a time because that’s really all I can manage.
Anyway back to today.
This afternoon my mates from work Claire and Debs (aka Fivestar due to her
penchant for only the finest holidays), popped round to see how I was as I’ve
been off since Thiago went into cardiac arrest at the end of November. It was
lovely to see them. Claire brought her son Harrison and I dragged Elisa down
the battle cruiser where I had a couple of mid-afternoon snifters. Elisa met
her friend Bella by pure chance and together with Harrison the kids were getting
on nicely, as hopefully the picture shows!
We were in a cosy
little place called Mellards in Newcastle town centre when I bumped into a
lovely couple, Phil and Lois. Their son once held the title of being the only
cellist in Westlands Primary School, a mantle which has now passed to Elisa
since their boy moved up to high school.
The last time I saw
Phil was at a parents’ open evening at the school where he teaches. We took
Thiago with us because we never had anyone we could ask to look after him and
anyway, he was never any trouble. Lois congratulated me on the new addition to
the family.
At that point I held
it together pretty well but then when I started talking about him, the tears
started flowing again. They must have felt a little awkward but what can you
do? Just because I cry when I talk about Thiago doesn’t mean I don’t want to do
it. I’ve got such enormous pride in what he achieved in his life that talking
about him just has this reaction in me. I doubt that will ever change and nor
do I want it to.
Righto folks, I need
to get myself off for the night. It’s only just after 9pm but I’ve got a four
hour walk ahead of me tomorrow. This is the time when the pain starts…
😓😓😓 there will be lots of moments like that, having to explain...what you would never had wished to have to explain ... So hard on you guys, sooo hard ♥️
ReplyDeleteIndeed it is. Doing simple things like taking one day at a time really helps but my mind always wants to fast forward! I think the slow and steady approach will be the way to go for quite a while yet.
ReplyDelete