In a bubble

Dosed up on anti-inflammatories I gritted my teeth and manoeuvred my stiff hip into my MX-5 this afternoon and made the 65 mile journey to Sussex to visit my parents.

The plan was to wait until I had more movement in my hip but my mum sounded so fed up this morning and when the pain killers kicked in by early afternoon I made an impromptu decision to go.

It was such an amazing feeling to hug my mum and dad for the first time since the 1st March. It is so strange being able to have physical contact with another human being after three months, to sit next to each other and ‘dance’ around the kitchen as I head for the coffee machine with dad cooking.

I’m now in a support bubble with mum and dad and it’s so wonderful yet strange. My mum had left my old Mickey Mouse on the spare bed which reminded me of our first family trip to Florida in 1984.

Mum opened her Mother’s Day and birthday presents which was so strange as I couldn’t remember what I’d bought. Dad was pleased with his Easter chocolate Lindt bunny and a Spitfire beer.

We ate a simple supper of sausage, beans, egg and chips with Cava to wash it down. A funny combination but it was just great to be together. I missed my brother and bro in law being with us but hopefully they can join us next weekend although we won’t be able to hug them which will be hard.

I gave my dad an extra hug before bed tonight and said I feel like I’ve just got out of prison. Or maybe I’m just on day release? Either way it’s nice to feel a bit ‘normal’ even if it’s just for a few hours.