Ah well, this one was in the offing for the last few months, but just to say that Olga died on Sunday.
For those who I haven't bored with tales of lemon drizzle cake and proper tea from a teapot, with real china cups and saucers, Olga was my Age Concern elderly lady, that I was introduced to 4.5 years ago, through their Be-A-Friend Scheme. A bit like Adopt-a-Granny without the legal rigmarole.
In that time, I've visited her flat in Putney every week, taking her out on exciting excursions like tea at Pembroke House in Richmond Park, dropping unwanted parcels to the Post Office and the occasional cat-stroking and roast lunch foray chez nous. It was she who introduced me to the Telegraph Pub on Putney Heath – not bad for an 86 year old lady!
Anyway – she'd had cancer for 8 years, so you can only imagine the irony of the two of us – her twice my age (and some, thank you) – comparing chemo & hospital set-ups, bemoaning sunken veins and competing over who had the highest street value of prescription meds stashed in their closet.
But time and illness take their toll, so I moved her from Trinity Hospice into a Care Home on 3rd Jan and she didn't last even 2 weeks. But it's for the best – genuinely – her body had given up and she'd done bloody well to keep going that long.
It's a salutary tale though, whether you think in the context of your own demise or elderly parents and relies - makes you think about stuff like leaving lists of friends to be contacted in the event of your death, the details of companies with whom you have financial or other accounts, a plan for your funeral and a capable executor who isn't an 82 year old blind sister in Scotland – really not a good choice! So that's my thought for the day – plan for when you won't be able to plan, and it's so much easier all round.
Love to y'all, go do those Wills now (and I might even take a bit of my own advice soon!) Sx
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🙁