Peter 10/10/1928 - 5/4/2024

Slept very badly last night, partly because of lots of bouts of cramp but including a phone call at 4am from the care home to say P had been vomiting and that as a precaution they’d called an ambulance. Not long after I was up to take A to the tram for her flight to Bristol, then home to see off M and the kids. The weather was once again dreadful and S and I decided to head over to Fife and went to a clothes shop in Doune we’d heard about (it was great),
On the drive from there to an upholstery warehouse (going through snow, bizarrely!), I got a call from the hospital to say they’d done blood tests and had been waiting to take him for a scan, that a therapy dog was visiting and he’d been patting him and said ‘that’s made my day’, smiled and then suddenly and unexpectedly died.
My goodness, that was a shock. Whilst he’s been virtually bed bound for quite some time he hasn’t been ill as such and has always said he’d like to match his Mum who died at 104 (in the same care home). He’s been through quite a lot in the last couple of years but had picked up a lot since having the good food and better care than he was getting from when he was in his own home with carers just popping in 4 times a day. So pleased he didn’t have a long period of painful illness before going though, and particularly that he was happily with a dog at the end….he loved his dog Diesel so much and has really missed him.
We got to the upholstery place and whilst S looked round I called and texted the kids and most immediate people who needed to know, and spoke to the care home who were lovely and said not to panic about anything and take our time to work out next things to do. I’m going to have to get organised….not really sure what to do yet but there are lots of helpful websites.
We drove on to St Andrews for the late lunch we’d booked at Haar (very tasty) and a brief damp walk around the town. The sea was looking wild and it was cold so we weren’t tempted to go for a walk along the long beach!
Home and we watched Scoop about the Prince Andrew interview (well done in all the toe curling detail of it) as we nibbled some cheese and pate. I was overwhelmingly tired, both from the disturbed night last night and the many conversations I’d had over calls and texts with people, the sense of a massive growing list of what needs done now, and thoughts about him and his life and all the times we’ve had together. Strange that although he only came into my life when he and my Mum met when I was about 20 (when of course I was fully grown up and knew everything(!) so wasn’t looking to see him as a father figure) he’s actually been around for me and for the whole family for longer than both my natural parents. We’ll miss him.