Hops, I love that you're insisting your friend hires a car when she comes to visit. Perfect compromise and no excuse for her to not do what she wants if you're doing/not doing other things (depending on circumstances!). Lovely that she is coming for your birthday, I hope there are good treats planned
Also incredibly kind of Izzy to do that, I do remember her, Bones is another I miss being on the board (not that she passed away, just that she stopped posting).
Yes, the future without a safety net means having to try to prepare for all eventualities, which is impossible unless you have huge amounts of money that will cover everything imagineable (millions of pounds of spare cash needed for that. Ridiculous). No-one wants to save and hoard and deprive themselves a nice life, life is for living and enjoying. But equally no healthcare, no money for heat, good food, occasional treats, home repairs, transport, care etc - horrifying way to live. That's why the joy I'm seeing in the UK from some who are delighted the safety net's being ripped away disturbs me, particularly as it mostly comes from people who would need it if they couldn't work? I don't think many people on 'average' type salaries have managed to put away half a million just in case they have an accident and have thirty years of care and living expenses they need to fund themselves. Bonkers. Anyway, I am trying to focus on practical here and now things, last week was very grim but spilling it all out has helped, the weather is perking up during the day now and I'm keeping up the swimming and fairly healthy eating so it's alright. I felt very down about not being 'seen' again, it's an ongoing theme for me but I need to focus on connecting with people who do see me. I find my links to the past are very strong. That sense of not having a safe family made me very reliant on friends when I was young (teenager) and they're really the only people that are still in contact with me now, but much of it is not nourishing for me. Not because they're bad people, just because we're all as messed up as each other and we all have our struggles now. I just need more people who aren't struggling so much, or who cope with their struggles in a different (more proactive) way. I got miffed on Mother's Day, not because it's a big thing for me, I can't stand all the overly commercial stuff that goes on now, but because I asked four friends what they did for Mother's Day, said 'oh that sounds lovely' to their various replies and then waited for them to ask what we did. And no-one did. It's not that it was Mother's Day that bothered me, it's just that basic lack of conversation, what did you do, oh how lovely, yes, what did you do? I just want more people that can have a conversation, even if it is just about what you did or didn't do at the weekend.
Yes please to the poems if you're happy to send them
Lighter, unfortunately that's not the way the system works here (re care). It all boils down to funding and ours has been repeatedly refused, so it's me or nothing. The driving's just too much for me now and as lovely as it is here, if I can't drive we're buggered so it's time for a rethink. Easier to think when the days are longer and the sun is out
x
