Yes, we have a comfortable life and are quite happy where we are.
Alison
When Alison got ill I thought that she would have a complete recovery in a year. Not the case. I now know that when something like that ( complete mental breakdown ) happens you will never be the same again.
Moving to the seaside was like moving to a different life.
We didn't keep in touch with our old neighbours and friends. Not that we had many friends as we were too busy working and bringing up our 2 sons. Mainly because Alison was embarrassed about her condition and our financial downfall. Also social agoraphobia is the main diagnosed symptom of her condition.
This meant that she couldn't bear crowds of more than a couple of people. Couldn't bear someone standing up if she was sat down. People hovering. When I took her to a supermarket, any mildly loud noise, such as a couple of trolleys knocking together and she cowered alarmingly as if a bomb had gone off.
After a while I too could feel the electricity in the air that you get when people are just going around their daily business. This awareness is magnified 1000% in Alison's mind. She would just run. So I know now, when to get her away from a situation.
Her condition is managed with medication and avoidance.
She has improved slowly in the last 8 years. When we first moved in she couldn't go next door but one without being accompanied.
We met Pam not long after moving in. Our children are a similar age and went to the same school. She became Alison's best friend and popped 'round regularly.
Pam also took Alison out shopping or lunch and even to the local auction rooms. Alison had to sit right at the front with her head buried in the catalogue. One day the Auctioneer ( quite a stern man ) wanted to know why she wrote down every selling price. It was just so she could concentrate on something to distract her from the other people there.
Getting a dog helped massively. A reason to get up when I was at work and a companion on a short walk. She never made it to the beach unescorted but the nearby shops became in range.
Pam also got a dog and they often walked together.
Pam moved to Wales for family reasons. We still keep in touch.
Our neighbours probably don't think there is much wrong with her as they have never known her any different.
She is a shadow of her former self.
I don't mind too much as I always told her I liked it when she was ill. A cold/flu or wot not. Because she always had twice as much energy as me, had a zest for life and made me live mine.
Alison had built herself a career in sales and marketing and business was booming.
She hasn't driven a car since.
Miles
I'm not in the best of health myself.
My van driving job was becoming unbearable due the chronic tendinitis I had developed in my ankles. My back slipped a disc every so often and ached most of the time.
I had started to get frequent migraines and trying to quit smoking left me in depression.
Doctors weren't much use so I had to try and help myself.
I took up yoga to help my ankles. Didn't fix them but helped me get by. What the yoga did do was almost completely cure my bad back. Result!
After keeping a migraine diary for a couple of years I found that I was allergic/ intolerant to refined sugar.
It still catches me out now and again.
So meals out are a danger zone for me. I won't even go round my parents/relatives for Christmas dinner. And the cherry on the cake is, even a few sips on a pint of beer starts a banging headache.
I was on tablets for depression to keep off the fags but I had an allergic reaction to the medication so started smoking again. I was determined to quit but think that I tried so hard that I damaged myself in other ways. I know that I will never be the same again also.
Even through this I hadn't had a day off work in 5 years, but when redundancies came around I was top of the list. Maybe they new I was struggling. I was glad to be picked.
We are entering Britain's Got Talent as a guitar/singer duo this year. That sob story should get us through a couple of rounds.
( Not really )
What a pair we are. We were always a perfect match.
So Alison will be happy on a deserted ocean. I will be able to control my food ingredients. And we can travel as if on holiday and visit many different places without busy airports, crowded cities, lots of people, dangerous catering and driving.
In the past, we never returned to a holiday destination as our favourite part is not knowing what is around the next corner.
And we are never happier than when we are striving towards something.
No comments:
Post a Comment