if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry,………….

Doing the afternoon shift today at Mums hospital, I was thrilled to see the Mum I know and am terrified of, (yes, really), wearing lippie and mascara: AND she’d had her hair washed then done three rounds of her room on the zimmer frame (which isn;t yet diamond encrusted but trust me, will be !).

Anyway, was quite happy to leave her today as she seemed so much happier and looked more like herself than she had for weeks. I was looking forward to the drive back to home from Paphos to Peyia along the Coral Bay coastline: savouring how the evening would look as the sunset, I was JUST about to leave reception at the hospital when the man who’d been in intensive care next to Mum last week, stopped me for a chat,….

Now well enough to sit in reception each afternoon, to chat to his wife and to anyone passing by, this man proceeded to tell me all of his symptoms and explain each procedure he’d had to have to make him as well as he was……….in brief:

– a ventilator for his “chronical” chest

– pain relief for the “chronical ” pain in his leg

– tablets for “chronical” constipation

– injection for his “chronical” sugar levels…….and on and on

Now, dear reader, please don;t get me wrong: I am totally sympathetic to anyone who is ill and my heart goes out to those who;ve tried to holiday here over Christmas and ended up in hospital with something unforeseen and nasty BUT I’m British and when we ask, “How are you?”, we don’t mean ,”tell me in technicolour”, we mean , “be brave and keep that stiff upper lip and just give me the abridged version PLEASE!”

Anyway, the sun had set before I left the hospital and the drive back, though pleasant, was in the dark. Mind you, the fun I had running through the conversation with that man, in my mind during the drive, was quite chronical – and I had to stop to regain my composure before I did something nasty and upset the impending Arthur Ritus in my broken wrist!

Now I’ve got a splitting headache: where’s the glue and aspirin?……