Sick Boy

#1 Son broke his arm at Scouts last night!

Poor lad has broken his wrist in two places and is in a lot of pain, didn't sleep until 5am and is currently snoring away on the couch. He was all worried about impacting our holiday in a few weeks and his prelims which start in a few weeks time. Its not going to be easy for him but he'll get through this.

These additional trials and tribulations in the Planko household meant I had to work from home today and accompany my Aunt from one hospital to another for an appointment which gave me an opportunity to ask her about the broach I've used as my blip for the last two days.

The guy is George Turner Paton, born in Dundee in 1887, killed in action when his ship, HMS Mary Rose, sank in 1917. The woman was his wife, Mary Crowlie, who he married in 1914. They had two kids, Bertie S Paton Jnr was born in 1916 and May Rose Paton born in 1918 just after his death. Mary remarried his younger brother and had two more kids in 1923 and 1926. Mary died in 1963.

Bertie S Paton Jnr married Helen Thomson Weasenham in 1939, and were the parents of my Aunt, Sheila Rose Paton, born in 1940 which makes the man and woman in the locket my Aunts Grandparents.

Families are a complicated thing and one day I might explain on here my past and lack of relationship/contact with my biological originators and their descendants, but not right now.

My Aunt and Uncle are actually my godparents but have always been more like parents to me, my wife & kids, and are the kids grandparents as far as we are all concerned. At the hospital today I was asked if I was a relative, and rather than try and explain, I just said "yes, I'm her Son". We chatted about it afterwards as I normally say nephew (although they refer to Mrs P as their daughter in law, and having a different name it's always complicated explaining it to someone for the first time) and she looked me straight in the eye and said in her sternest and most sincere but gentle voice "but Son, you are!" which was touching, even though my Uncle has always referred to me as his 3rd Son. I guess it's cause she's never been the emotional type and things were always just the way they were and that was that.

I've no idea what will happen to the both of them; its hard seeing them apart, getting older and frailer as time goes on. I just hope they both manage to stick around for another ten or so years to see the kids grown up and who knows, perhaps some great grandkids.

Within the next 2 months we should know how much of a recovery she will make and then we'll start planning with my cousins what to do going forwards. My cousins, Mrs P and I are all of the opinion that both of them in a residential home together would be the safest option, so we've started to plant that seed. She's started talking about that but doesn't think its possible, and has been corrected a couple of times that it is possible by all of us. Dad/Uncle has been on about it for months prior to this, so we just have to keep working at her.

They have been in their house since the 80's and she's reluctant to leave it, but i'd rather see them sell it and use all the cash to fund a nice residential home where they are safe and stimulated. He's loving his place, is getting regularly fed, entertained, and is back to a proper routine compared to back at home where he was sleeping all the time and getting progressively worse as time went on. He's the chattiest i've seen him in years. We just need to get her to the same level, which I don't think would be possible in their own home the way it was....

We had a wee bit of a chat about her smoking, which went better than I thought. Being in hospital she's not been smoking and isn't bothered about it. I've planted the seed that she shouldn't start again when she gets out and that i'm going to be the bad one who gets rid of any cigarettes in the house so she isn't tempted to start. Also tried to plant a seed about what to do with the dogs, who are in <foster home> but that was a step too far and I got the selective deafness to that chat, so will just have to keep at it!

For someone who doesn't normally post up much personal stuff i've fairly blurted out a lot today. Its very therapeutic.

Planko