Lightdrops

My brother in law Mick died yesterday. He was an ordinary bloke, a private person who prided himself on working hard. He enjoyed a pint and was, unknown to us, a bit of an expert on different brandies. His party trick if you like. His leaving wasn't easy and I don't want to dwell on that other than to say that being in hospital on a Bank Holiday was not good. I could write at length about the tough job that the nurses do, working 12 hour shifts with eight demanding patients, missing breaks, still cheerful when the chap in the end bed with Alzheimers needs his sheets changing once again and having to feed patients in between consoling relatives and chasing up the few doctors on call on this Bank Holiday, themselves with too many patients to see and too many critical decisions to make at the end of long shifts.

Thankfully Mick's passing was peaceful and friends arrived to be with him and with us. They shared stories and we discovered things to remember and cherish that we didn't know. Apparently he was walking home from work one night in his high res jacket with his rucksack on his back and the police pulled him over mistaking him for a protester at the power station - earned him the nickname Swampy for a while. Nice one Mick...