We none of us know exactly what a day is going to bring. Last night, Meg seems to have quite a peaceful night for which I was grateful. During the course of the afternoon when I judged that Meg could safely be left, I sent off several texts to family and friends informing them that Meg was now in the terminal stages of her illness and my next communication with them would probably be a sad one. I received replies very quickly with many expressions of sympathy and support. One of my friends from Hampshire sent me a longish text explaining that his father had died in a similar way and indicating that he was available for a talk if I felt so inclined. So we arranged a time of 8.30pm for a phone call and were actually on the phone for about an hour, all in all. This was a source of great emotional support to me and it is always helpful to talk with a friend who has shared similar life experiences and the emotional concomitants. But my friend has experienced the loss of both parents and a newly born child so is only too aware of the grieving process. My friend has a family flat in Weymouth on the south coast which he offered to Meg and myself in the past - a wonderful offer which we had to decline because Meg would not have been able to negotiate the stairs giving access to the flat. But my friend repeated the offer to me which is wonderful to know. Having informed the next door neighbours of the latest information, our next door neighbour called around to see us. She has had a terrible year with the death in close proximity of three close family members so here again we have an example of someone who knows of what she speaks. I reassured her of my long term plans indicating my firm intention to stay put and gradually get the house into good order, as I move though it room by room decluttering and generally taking the opportunity to divest myself of the things accumulated over the years. Most people when they move houses take the opportunity to go through cupboards and lofts discarding the stuff they do not wish to take with them and my memory is that when we left Hampshire, we filled three skip loads of unwanted stuff. In Hampshire, our local tip was only less than a mile away as I remember so it was quite easy to dispose of stuff when one was in a good 'throwing away' mood but very occasionally, I came away with goodies that other people had discarded, one of the most notable being an L S Lowry print which is still hung in my study to remind myself of our Manchester days. I still tell carers and others of the days when, as students during the long vacation, I had a job in a cardboard box factory (which was actually pretty interesting) whilst Meg, by a stroke of complete good fortune, worked in the McVities biscuit factory which was practically adjacent, so we used to journey there and back on my (Lambretta) scooter.
The morning turned out to be quite a busy one. I received a phone call out of the blue as they say from one of our two lifelong Spanish friends whose stay in Leicester was facilitated by Meg as part of her role in coordinating the EU exchange relationships we had. The two students who came to Leicester in the 1990s were students in their 20's then but are now 50 year olds now with responsible positions in their respective universities in Spain. One of them hearing about Meg's declining health has decided to jump on a plane and get over here as fast as she can whist she still has the opportunity to see Meg. But now we have left the EU you need to get a visa in both directions so this will probably delay our friend's ability to get over here quickly. I do not know how long it will take but it is troublesome that what used to be easy is now so problematic. We will be delighted to see our friend again, but I fear that Meg may not be able to recognise her - let us hope she can get here within a day or so. In response to the emails and texts that I sent out yesterday, the Eucharistic minister from our local church and her husband turned up. We said a few prayers together round Meg's bedside and then went on to talk about musical matters as both of our friends are leading lights in the musical life of our church. The Eucharistic minister herself is an extremely talented musician combining the ability to play the organ at church whilst also playing the cello in any local improvised orchestras and she has, in the past, played Mozart's Piano Concerto No 23 in a public performance. After my church friends had left, it was not too long afterwards that one of the carers arrived to do the 'sit' with Meg whilst I went out to do the weekly shopping. I actually found this to be quite an emotionally upsetting experience as I swept past various items on the supermarket shelves thinking to myself that there was no point in buying that product any more - and so on for a range of items. Soon we almost had a houseful of people because the two mid-day carers came along and there was nothing really to do for Meg but they held her hand and spoke softly to her and my son joined them for the latter part of the morning as well. Then I cooked some lunch for myself (some quiche, having thrown the chicken bits away so that I did not poison myself with salmonella). After all Meg's visitors had left, I busied myself with the piles of documents on our kitchen table which needed to be filed but which I have not had the chance to process in the last few weeks as Meg's needs have intensified.
A trade deal has been announced between the UK and the USA but the details are still being chewed over as I write. It may take some time to analyse whether or not this will be a real game changer but Trump needs to show that his policy of imposing tariffs to impose a deal is working whilst the UK is seeking to minimise the damage that the tariff regime will create for industries in the UK.
© Mike Hart [2025]