In the end-of-life care stage of his cancer journey Brian decided he wanted to go out on his own! No-one believed he had the strength to get onto his scooter. I had a phone-call from Steve saying he was on a stake out. He had tracked him to the garden centre and was hiding in the corner of the car park to see what he did. I had an image, which I have shared with some of you all ready of Steve peering through binoculars over the open car door with his beanie hat on, like some urban guerilla. Brian made his purchases, though he had to let Steve take them home in the car, just the purchases, not his Dad! The next day he went into the hospice. He is being amazing and has moved on from the anger. He wants to plant the flowers so that when they grow Bet will look at them and think of him. For the least sentimental or demonstrative couple I know this is some turn around!
With apologies to Jenny Joseph this is my quick parody on a very famous, favourite poem and my little tribute to Brian:
Warning:
When I am an
old geezer I shall drive a scooter
with a helmet
and gauntlets that look ridiculous
I shall spend
money on grow bags and plants
even if we only
have a yard!
I shall park on
yellow lines if I feel like it
and wave my
stick at policemen and honk my horn at idiots on the road
in a gleeful,
outrageous manner.
I shall wear
what I want
insult who I
want
and teach my
grandson to spit.
You can sit
about in your long-johns all day if you want
and smoke to
your hearts content
You can drink
whisky in bed
and swear at
the computer
For years we
conformed and paid the mortgage
and worried
about what people think.
We socialised
and kept abreast
but maybe it's
time for a change;
Time to start
being eccentric and vague
so people will
come to expect
to
see me around, enjoying myself
running about
on my scooter.
Sue Almond May 2012
For those who may not know the original:
Warning - When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple
By Jenny Joseph
When
I am an old woman, I shall wear purple
with
a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I
shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
and
satin sandles, and say we've no money for butter.
I
shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired
and
gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
and
run my stick along the public railings
and
make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I
shall go out in my slippers in the rain
and
pick the flowers in other people's gardens
and
learn to spit.
You
can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
and
eat three pounds of sausages at a go
or
only bread and pickles for a week
and
hoard pens and pencils and beer mats and things in boxes.
But
now we must have clothes that keep us dry
and
pay our rent and not swear in the street
and
set a good example for the children.
We
must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But
maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So
people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When
suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
