Wednesday 13 August 2014

I missed you


This is Neville, one of H.I.'s loyal Summer School students, taking a little break over those gone before.

Enough of this death, doom and destruction - let's have a little break from it.

A friend of mine who collapsed in a supermarket through alcohol abuse and malnutrition a couple of weeks ago, is back in the pub and drinking tomato juice, looking so much healthier and talking with a positive attitude about life. Today was his first day back in work, after he had thought he did not have a job to go back to - or a wife and son who cared about him more than he imagined at his lowest point.

I thought he was a gonner, and so did the doctors, but he is twice the man he was before collapsing and it really seems to be a real life, 'It's a Wonderful Life' story, without the snow. Other friends of mine have not come out the other side intact like he did, but maybe they didn't have Clarence.

Amidst the killing, war and hatred, it is important to tell those you love that you still do, while you still have the chance.

I saw little Anna again tonight - the first time in weeks.

"I missed you!", I said.

"I missed you too," she said back, and I really think she meant it.


15 comments:

  1. How very embarrassing to collapse in a supermarket; I do hope (at least) that it was Waitrose.

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    1. It was Tesco, but - like I said - had had stopped worrying about that shit by then.

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  2. It is always important to tell those you love how much they mean to you.

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  3. I tell P how much he means to me everyday. He often replies "like fuck you do".

    I prefer to collapse at home.

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    1. So do I, but this bloke used to bounce off lamp posts on the way. Then he moved into the pub...

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  4. Glad your friend made it through and that he's glad of it, too.

    The only time i ever fainted was after giving blood at a blood donation drive at my school. I was very embarrassed, especially when the one who brought me to was a neighbor lad around the corner. I didn't realise he was a volunteer with the ambulance until that day. I also learned that when i gave blood in the future not to jump right up and walk around as if nothing had just occurred.

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    1. The only time I ever fainted was whilst riding my motorcycle in sub-zero weather, but I realised what was happening and pulled over before both me and the bike crashed to the ground.

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  5. A friend of Hans cheated death, lived for half a year healthy, now he eats and drinks as before, and one can see it. No judgement - maybe he enjoys time now more then the carrots&tomato-diet days.

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    1. That is really true - carry on with the excess if you want to, unless it is going to kill you quickly, I say.

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  6. We've missed your diatribes, soliloquies, news notes, Bath history, and general potpourri of opinions. So, over the cold now?

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    1. This is the only post for about 5 years that doesn't include any of the above - give me a break! Tomorrow I will be back to my same old self - the next one is about hating, hating, hating.

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  7. When I was a young city worker I once helped a woman who fainted in front of me in rush hour on a crowded London tube station. Having briefly trained as a nurse I lifted her legs (blood flow to the brain) and she regained consciousness almost immediately. Just as the train arrived she stood up, gave me a filthy look and got on the train without comment. I joined a different carriage, feeling guilty and wondering what I had done.

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    1. Serves you right. No good deed goes unpunished! Ain't folk wonderful.

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    2. I lifted a girl's legs over her head when she fainted once, and she didn't thank me either. I should have done it before she woke up.

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