My cousin Doreen arrived Thursday on the train from Brighton – thru London – then up to Lincoln to visit us for a few days.
She and her husband Malcolm had visited us once before about two years ago. They had stayed in a nearby hotel. This time Doreen came up on her own and stayed with us in our flat, in her own guest room. We made it feel like a B&B with little extras in the room, such as special hand soap and lotion, shower gel and matching towels, magazines and a variety of books on the night stand to read as well as a bottle of water by the side of the bed. Unfortunately the television is not working at this time so we watched our favorite shows at night together in the lounge. No Michelin star for us this year, I suppose.
The first day of her stay I threw my back out. The next morning I made an appointment at the chiropractor for a treatment to get my back into shape. Since I was in no condition to go traipsing around town, I showed her the way to walk to the shopping area in the city centre – straight down Steep Hill and onto the High Street. She is very happy when she is shopping and after a few hours she met me back at our flat for a coffee and conversation about her adventures in town and her shopping bargains. I came home from the chiropractor and rested during that time so that I would be ready for a full weekend with her and my husband Steve.
That evening Steve and I took Doreen to a friend’s house where we joined a group of our friends to celebrate the Sabbath and Sukkot, a festival celebrating the harvest. We had a lovely dinner together. We introduced her to everyone there and the conversations began. I was able to rest my back as we sat around the table and join the many conversations and telling of stories that were shared. It was a wonderful evening and we all had a really good time.
On Saturday we took our time getting ready and then went down Steep Hill into city centre to finish the shopping that Doreen started yesterday. We introduced her to the Brayford Wharf, a scenic area with lots of swans and unique boats in the marina. The weather was picture-perfect-beautiful the whole weekend with warm temperatures and the sun shining all day, very unusual for mid-October! She said that it was as if had I ordered the weather for her visit.
We sat outside along the Brayford drinking our coffees and enjoying the day. Doreen had a stroke just five months ago, another reminder of how fragile life is, and that the time we spend together is very special. She has made an incredible recovery, and makes it a point to live each day to the fullest. The three of us enjoyed sharing stories about the family, and we learned something new about the different sides of the family, both about the relatives in England and in America. We both agreed to visit several of the relatives in Sheffield on Sunday. Stay tuned to find out about our very own Who Do You Think You Are.
Nice one Maxine but the last picture – I’m SCOWLING!!