Friends

Thank goodness for friends. And thanks to those of my friends who have sent their support & good wishes on-line.

Yesterday we went to the Pub, more because Al, our gardener had called on Wednesday & we hadn't paid him, rather than because we, in particular I, felt like going. En route we picked up PD. The Pub as so often these days was virtually empty.

By the time PD had regaled us with his adventures to the gym in the morning - the lift had broken down so he'd had to climb up all the steep steps to the fifth floor, wheezing madly with his asthma - we were all weeping with laughter & some of the tension was broken.

He'd then gone on about his enthusiasm for the work of Magritte & his urge to see some Dali originals, & we'd remembered the Magritte we'd seen in the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh on a memorable visit in the company of another very dear friend, & reader, Malcolm.

By this time life was getting more into perspective. I can't say I've entirely recovered from the experience but I am a lot better & able to contemplate once more the possibility of doing things, like cooking (Caesar salad tonight), of continuing to persevere despite the likes of that "doctor".

I sometimes feel I've written harshly about PD. He can be selfish, self-centred, cantankerous, demanding, but he can also be a true friend & this time he proved to be just that. I supposed I half-guessed that when he asked on the phone how it had gone. I'd replied "Terrible," & his instant reaction was "But you can't walk!" Oh he's seen me walk a few steps but he doesn't regard that as normal walking & he has no doubt that I'm not just putting it on. His disbelief at what some of my "medical" involved was tangible.

All in all, God bless friends. They are beyond price. Thank you to you all.