A life well lived.

I know that many of you are aware that my FIL had a stroke on Good Friday and I now have to report that he passed away. In the end, he caught yet another chest infection and just wasn't strong enough to fight this one off. We will miss him very much, but in some ways we all know just how much of a release this is for him as everything has been a struggle for him since Easter. In the end, as he needed continuing full nursing care, we found a really nice home for him and they gave him a lot of love, care and attention over the last few weeks of his life.

I was wondering just yesterday, just what an impact my FIL had on my life and the lives of the people around him and thought I'd tell you a little bit about the man behind the acronym. 

My FIL was a small man, who probably only ever lied about one thing in his whole life - when he claimed that he was a whole 5ft 1.5" tall on applying to the army! He was very proud of his time in the army but apart from that, never really strayed too far from home - he never owned a car and spent all the time he could with his wife...who he adored. I sometimes think he never really got over her death in January and that's so sad to relate. His stroke took so much from him; so many times when we visited he wasn't with it at all, but through it all, he remained remarkably cheerful. From the time he saw the wild dogs running around the ward(!) to the time he was off out to get the car (when he couldn't drive) and all the other strange places that his confusion took him, he chuckled his way through most of it.  In fact, all the time I've known him, if you asked me to name one thing that was the essence of him, I'd say it was his little chuckle. He'd be telling us about a TV programme and he'd give that little chuckle as something had amused him - he saw humour in many things - and that's not a bad way to be.

So, short in stature he may have been, but that didn't stop him being a loving father and the most devoted husband you could imagine. Like my MIL, he was just a really nice person and I don't think I ever met anyone who didn't like him. That's not a bad epitaph, is it...just being universally liked? Do you know, I think most people would be happy with that.

Donald 

20/12/27 - 16/11/11

Aaargh, aargh....and balm to the soul.

I've been quiet, I know, but just for once, it isn't my problem!

I'm not sure how many of you are aware, but I have an iPad and I do most of my blogging on that. I have small hands and the virtual keyboard just seems to fit me perfectly. I love the way that I can balance it on my lap, or sit almost anywhere and just write as the mood takes me.

For some time now, I have been using an app called Blogpress, not only to write with, but also to save drafts locally and then upload whenever I am happy with them (and have a wifi connection!). So, all was well in wwland and a little while ago, I had really busy time, with ideas flowing out of me and onto the screen. I am what I like to think of as a 'bash it out' writer. I write as I think as I speak...minus little things like spelling and sentence construction. I then (once I've got the initial stuff out my system) go through it, correcting it, removing people's names and adding in links etc. it's the way I like to work. Back to the busy time....

You see, there I was, creative juices flowing and away from wifi and I wrote half a dozen entries. Came home, backed up my lovely device and then discovered ios5, the new operating system was out. I installed it - the installation went perfectly and I was happy until I tried to open Blogpress. Aaargh (number 1) - it did nothing but crash and I couldn't get to my entries at all. I checked the developer's website, no mention of crashing. Checked other people online (don't you just love Google!) and found it was a common issue. Emailed the developers...no reply. Emailed the developers again....no reply....and the same response a third time too. Bad, bad support....hmmm, sorry, I meant no, no support, didn't I?^*1

Never mind I thought....I can at least work online directly through Blogger and write a new entry, just to let you know what's going on. So I did....I wrote, then I hit publish....and then got a snotty message saying they couldn't publish my work. And then...Aaaaargh (number 2).....they lost my work!

Last night, after no joy with Blogpress and the iPad problem with Blogger, I decided to download Blogsy. It won't get me my written entries back (maybe one day the upgrade will come^*1) but at least I can get blogging again. Nice app this Blogsy...and it means i can bash out all those thoughts, feelings and wonderings. As I said, balm to the soul!

^*1 The app store states that they have submitted an upgrade for ios5, but there's no sign of it yet.