Thiagos everywhere - In the name of Thiago - Day 122

While I’ve been beavering away trying to organise a significant radio advertising campaign today, my good lady has been arguably even busier. The walls in the music/office/yoga room were once empty but now they are a wonderful shrine to our two children, one an incredibly smart 11-year-old, who is transitioning far too quickly to a young woman, the other my little man Thiago, who we can only ever guess what else he might have achieved. 

The pictures above sit on our landing. The one of Thiago sitting in our garden was already there, as was the montage that my brother Judd, put together in time for his funeral just before Christmas but everything else has gone up today. We don’t have many of Elisa and Thiago together unfortunately, so it’s nice to have one of those among the many new ones.

Angelica is owed all the credit for this. She got the motivation pretty much immediately this morning once we’d set Elisa on some schoolwork and once she gets an idea in her head there truly never is any stopping her. 

Elisa wasn't much to look at as a baby but that's not a surprise as babies generally are brutish. I hate it when I'm asked for a comment on a close to newborn baby. The most encouraging comment I can usually offer is something along the lines of "congratulations your baby isn't absolutely fucking hideous." 

I like to show more honesty on the subject and I was heartened when we showed Elisa pictures of her as a baby last night when she said, "Blimey I really was ugly"! She's a stunner now of course. Thiago however as soon as he started to develop features was an absolute heartbreaker. Those eyes as a friend of mine once said.

One happy development of the lockdown is that instead of having my lunch in an office with malfunctioning air conditioning and windows you can’t open, I now get to step outside onto my patio in the garden and allow myself the time to take in a chapter of whatever I’ve got on the go at the time, while enjoying a homemade lunch.

I overdid it today on the wraps. One is never enough for me and two is too many, so you can guess how many I normally end up having! It’s not so much the wrap that’s the problem it’s more the nagging voice inside my head, which insists that I must fill the bloody thing as much as I can. I am quite pitiably unable to resist an overstuffing.

I’d like to end today with an ode to the owner of this arm, Mr Jamie Hickey. It was Jamie’s birthday yesterday and I decided to cake him up. Another dear friend Oliver Prentice decided to beer him. Jamie is very fond of these two things and the gestures were very well received. From all the reports I have heard from my old chum, his day was fulsome and very well enjoyed!

Jamie had this tattoo done shortly after Thiago passed away. I’ll always remember the moment he showed it to me. He expressed very strongly that he had done it for himself – it is after all his arm! – but the fact that anyone would even think to do anything as incredible as that simply blew me away. It’s just another amazing thing that brings me closer to him. I have some amazing friends and he’s right up there.

So just before I go, please remember that I am fundraising for the NHS. It’s going really well but I still need to raise another £3,000 to reach my initial target. If you’ve already donated but still want to get a bit more involved, perhaps you might like to join me for a stage of the walk. If that's the case, then please let me know and I’ll share the itinerary with you.

Take care one and all and stay safe.