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Monday 31 October 2011

Succinctly Yours - A Microfiction Meme #28


Grandma at Grandma's Goulash provides a picture and a word prompt for this Microfiction Meme and the rules are use the photo as inspiration for a story of 140 characters OR 140 words.


Want more challenge? Use the word of the week in your story. This part is optional.


This week's word is EERIE here's the picture and my offering using the picture and word of the week  in 140 characters, including spaces and punctuation.


Miguel and Pablo had popped out for lunch,

They found it eerie that people thought they were in fancy dress,

these were their normal clothes.

Thursday 27 October 2011

Dad's dilemma......


Remembering how my Dad made me laugh has prompted me to repost this anecdote from November 2007.  I miss him. 

Dad had to go into hospital yesterday, just for the day, to have a transfusion because he is anaemic. Now Dad has smoked since he was twelve years old, no amount of cajoling, pressure or anything else, from anyone including doctors, will convince him to give up and he wasn’t looking forward to being hooked up to a drip for umpteen hours without being able to have a fag!
He rang me at 5 p.m. to tell me he had just come home, so I went to see him.

“How did you get on today at the hospital Dad?” I asked

“I was asleep most of the day because I was bored and I couldn’t have a cigarette” he told me.

“So you didn’t have a cigarette all day?” I said “That’s good, perhaps you can give up?”

I knew what the answer would be, and I can’t repeat it here, and what he told me next had me laughing so much I could hardly breathe, you couldn’t make it up honestly! Here’s what happened……


Dad had been hooked up to a drip and a BP monitor all day and a couple of times during the day he had asked the nurses if they could unhook him from the drip so he could go outside for a cigarette, but of course they refused which is why he was asleep most of the day because it takes the craving away. At 4.30 p.m ish he awoke and noticed that the drip had finished so he called the nurse over to ask if she would unhook him as he needed the toilet. She said she couldn’t do that as she needed to put some saline through but she could unhook him from the BP monitor and would walk him to the toilet carrying the drip whilst he leaned on his stick (he needs a hip replacement remember). Whilst Dad did need the toilet, what he really wanted was to then be able to go outside for a smoke – this had scuppered his plan!

Once in the toilet the nurse hooked the drip bag on the coat hook on the door and told Dad to pull the help-cord when he was finished so she could help him back to his bed. As soon as she’d gone Dad lit up a cigarette having realised that this was probably the only toilet in the entire hospital not displaying No Smoking signs. After the initial rush of the nicotine he undid his trousers and tried to sit on the toilet but, because of his hip and the toilet being so low, he couldn’t get down that far, eventually in desperation he just fell on the toilet and finished his cigarette.

When he’d finished his cigarette and his ablutions he found that he had no support apart from his stick to heave himself off the seat, and he remonstrated with himself for smoking and getting himself into such a predicament. Eventually he noticed a sort of bar swinging from the ceiling but being unsure as to its purpose he gave it a couple of tugs before he felt confident enough that it would support his weight. Once assured, he tried to pull himself up using the bar and his walking stick for support. Alas it wasn’t working. He then decided if he held onto the bar and jerked himself up he could get himself into a standing position – it worked, but unfortunately as he stood his pants dropped to his ankles! By this time he said he was breathless and couldn’t do anything apart from lean on his stick and hang on to the pole. After what seemed like an eternity he managed to pull his pants up with his stick and get them fastened and holding the drip bag aloft he ventured out of the cubicle leaning heavily on his stick.

Scanning the room for the help-cord he realised that it was over the other side of the room and his hip was hurting so much he couldn’t face the trek so he began trying to hook the cord with his stick. He got the cord swinging and as it ‘flirted’ wildly by he made a grab for it managing to catch and pull it at the same time. All this for a cigarette he remonstrated with himself, but it had taken him so long that all tell-tale signs smoke and smell-wise had dissipated, thankfully.
Within a few minutes the nurse had come to help him back to his bed.

“Are you OK Mr D, you’ve been a long time” she asked.

“Don’t ask, luv, just don’t ask” he replied.

Wednesday 12 October 2011

Celebration of Life..

Dad and Mum
Together again


Everything sorted now. No funeral, Dad left his remains to The Anatomy Dept at Manchester University for research. Instead we're having a huge party to celebrate his life, on what would have been his 87th birthday in November. He would have loved that.


Thankyou all so much for your kind messages, I really appreciate them all.   We are going away this weekend for a few days, something that was planned months ago and I know my Dad would want us to carry on - he was always saying 'Life Goes On' and indeed it does.   Eventually the pain will ease I know and the love my Dad gave us will never die, he will always be with us.  


I will be back blogging soon I hope.

Friday 7 October 2011

A last goodbye....





My beloved Father, Joseph Henry Dawson, left us at 2.30 this afternoon to be with the love of his life Elsie, my Mum. RIP Dad I love you more than I could ever tell you and I will miss you forever. You were THE BEST Dad in the world and taught me everything. God Bless. x

Tuesday 4 October 2011

Sorry.....

I've not been blogging, my Dad is seriously ill in hospital so I'm spending all my time there.

Monday 3 October 2011

Succinctly Yours - A Microfiction Meme #27


Grandma at Grandma's Goulash provides a picture and a word prompt for this Microfiction Meme and the rules are use the photo as inspiration for a story of 140 characters OR 140 words.


Want more challenge? Use the word of the week in your story. This part is optional.


This week's word is PUGNACIOUS here's the picture and my offering using the picture and word of the week  in 140 characters, including spaces and punctuation.



They had called Jack pugnacious at school but he’d just been very competitive.

He proved that he could still pee the furthest at the reunion.

Saturday 1 October 2011

Sorry.....

I've not visited, especially 55 ers.   My Dad is in ICU.