Strange Phenomena...

Back to using the Olympus for today's shot as didn't have time to wait for the 60D's battery to charge. Must buy a spare!

Beautiful weather and the perfect day for a coffee in Glasgow's West End followed by a wander in Kelvingrove Park to take photographs.....but it was not to be! After Alan's visit to Yorkhill (for his Botox injections in his hamstring muscles) we had to come straight home as David was heading back to work in time for his boss's retirement do. Hey ho. Still at least I managed to grab this shot from the car of Glasgow University Tower, one of the most recognisable landmarks on the Glasgow Skyline.

Botox injections went without a hitch thank goodness! Alan was an absolute star. Quick skoosh of the extremely cold freeze spray on his inner thighs (that made him jump!) and it was all over in seconds. Very un-dramatic. That's not to say the visit wasn't without drama though. I'm still trying to get my head around the coincidence of the following.

Arrived at the hospital ward and was directed into an already busy waiting room. As ever in these places, despite the fact a high proportion of children attending these clinics are wheelchair users, there's never enough room for wheelchairs!!! (Sorry, mini rant!)

Anyway, I had been vaguely aware of a woman and a teenage girl sitting on the other side of the waiting room but hadn't really paid any attention. Too busy trying to occupy Alan who's not known for his patience in waiting situations! I was busy chatting to him when I heard someone say "Excuse me, is that you Diane?" I turned round and it was the woman from the other side of the waiting room. I answered yes, but it was a second or two before I realised who she was, but by then she had launched herself at me, buried her face in my neck and was hugging me so tightly I could barely breathe! I heard the others in the waiting room gasp and I could see David's face over her shoulder, his expression a mixture of puzzled amusement and slight concern! :-))

Eventually she let go but was so emotional and kept saying "I can't believe it, I've been praying I'd find you again!"

Long story short (believe me this is the short version!) I first met this woman, G, at a Paediatric consultant's clinic at the Royal Maternity Hospital in Glasgow in 1996, when Alan was about 8 weeks old. She was there with her daughter K (same daughter she was with today) who was 18 months old. We got chatting in the waiting room then she was called to see the consultant. We were still in the waiting room when she came out. She was very upset as she had just been told her daughter had been officially diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. I sat with her and tried to comfort her, knowing that we were very probably going to be given the same diagnosis for Alan. When we came out from our appointment she had waited and we left the hospital together, wishing each other good luck for the future. As time passed, I often wondered what had become of her and her daughter.

Fast forward about 3 years, by which time I had started working as a Family Support Worker in a grant-aided special school for children with CP and who should visit one day but this same mum! We were both amazed and delighted to catch up. For the next 7 years I was involved with her and her family in my professional capacity and supported her with many issues relating to health, education and social work. My last involvement with her, other than the odd phone call, was about 6 years ago, when after 3 years of fighting on her behalf, she was finally re-housed in a wheelchair accessible house. Result! :D

Now here's the spooky bit. Yesterday when I was having the massive clear out of my work files, I stopped at her file before putting it in the confidential waste bag and thought about her and her family, remembering all the work I had been involved in with her and wondering how her daughter was doing, thinking I would probably never know.......and there they both were today!

AND, as if that wasn't coincidence enough, as David, Alan and I left the hospital, we saw the Paediatric Consultant that we'd seen at that clinic way back in 1996 and haven't seen since!

Strange Phenomena indeed!

I know I am being a rubbish Blip Pal at the mo but hope to catch up with your journals and lovely comments later. Have a great weekend you lovely peeps! :-))