A day of highs and lows

I feel a little like a billiard ball that's bounced from one cushion to another, today.
I drove over early to pick up Luca for our day together. Josh had gone to work very early, and then Eben went into a bit of a meltdown about school: angry, tearful and determined not to go. Ruth thinks he hasn't been able to warm to his teacher, this year - something that hasn't ever been a problem so far. Anyway, she and I agreed that it was best to leave her to help him to calm down, and I went back to ours with Luca, who was cheery.  Today's rather grainy image shows him engaged in imaginary animal care... one of his most consistent interests.
Later we had some good times in the park, and then some rather tired and grumpy times. Richard managed to get him to eat something, during the worst of these, which is what he really needed.  The sun came out again after that, in terms of his mood.
The more complex bit of the day came in the afternoon, when I was due to pick up Frieda from pre-school, taking Luca with me.  In fact it all went well, they were glad to see each other and we managed the journey back to Jack and Marianna's house calmly. They played there together until Jack finished work at 4.30, and started cooking tea. Marianna is away running a two-day residential training course, so Jack is juggling his consultancy work with all the domestic stuff. He's looking reasonably calm about it, or perhaps he's just a bit stunned by the gear change required after the relaxed August holidays.
The sad part of the day came as I was preparing to leave Jack's and take Luca back to Josh and Ruth's. I glanced at a WhatsApp message, to find news of a close friend who has just had a confirmed diagnosis of dementia. Several of us, who have known him well since student days, had noticed some behavioural changes which were disturbing; the possibility of dementia had occurred to me, but the picture was confused by his long-term struggles with depression. Now he and his wife have a confirmed diagnosis for him, I wish I could believe that they'll receive proper support. But I know from my own ex-husband's very difficult experience that this will be very hard to achieve in these days of diminished public services.