The Aged Parent

The main blip is my bro, Ray.  My Title refers to Our Dad (please see Extra).

That slight misdirection was to help clarify, or further confuse MOLOH and Lizzie B. Also to make them smile! :)) I hope.

Bare in mind the Immigrants  Great Expectations  to The Big Smoke of 1950's London. (Exiles is an interesting read, a proper Novel. )

My Mum chose non- Irish First Names for Us, tho' I'm sure there is a Saint venerated somewhere. My Second Name, Ann, is that of Her Mother, My Brother's Second Name is Francis, which is the Name of Our Paternal Grandad. He died when our dad was five. 

Our Mum died in 2017, following a decade of TIAs and Vascular Dementia. Ray packed in his National Service in the NHS after 25 years to really be there for His Parents.  My Dad remained Hail, Hearty, and dare I say Athletic until he was 80. He hung up his riding boots after a couple of hospitalisations in the RFH;  Being flattened by a reversing Transit Van, while certainly walking behind it as non-drivers do. I'm not sure if this came before or after falling off a set of ladders while painting the front of the House. Anyways the injuries left him crippled. A word he would use to describe an arthritic knee and a sever stoop, unable to walk above a snails pace. And Hard of Hearing. Add a mild stroke to that which has left him with no sight in his  right eye and occasional visits from invisible people. Note No spectacles, Hearing device and Walking Aid. Lockdown has, sadly, furthered his decline.

Ray runs his own Independent life together with Our Dads day-to-day existence  with may I say, cliche, Military Precision. He deserves a Medal for his patience, Domestic Science skills, no nonsense get the job done! spirit. Ray feels that perhaps they attended to my Mum too much, therefore, enabling her dependence. Ray is aware not to step in too much with My Dad.

I chose the snap of Raymondo to show his fun side among all this. 

He is a good friend to me.  He has retained long standing friendships with School mates, Ex- work colleagues and his Racing Crew. He has continued  communications with Our Family in Ireland which could have been lost when Mum died.

Perhaps there is a  Saint Raymond after all!