It is no secret to those close to me that I'm doing it tough at the moment. And it has nothing to do with gender issues.
My wife is going through a bad time and starting to suffer more severe physical and mental issues. Nothing can be done.
She is in full care and in a loving environment and has me and her family and wonderful friends; she has all of you as well - yes, I show her lovely posts from Susan's and from my friends here.
But today was the nursing home Christmas party, and my wife is a Christmas girl. She dresses up, decorates, gives gifts to everyone she can think of (my poor Visa knows it). She so wanted to attend the party.
I had to take her to hospital today which was OK and we got back to the Home.
The Christmas Party was cancelled. In Adelaide we are, even for us, in freak weather for this time of the year and it was 42C. Too unsafe for the residents to go outside and have a BBQ.
She was so upset, she was all dressed up and no party.
We sat in her room and I told her and showed her bad jokes from the Bad Joke Thread (she loves them).
She was still very sad.
I asked why and the one thing she wanted was that there was going to be a face painter to entertain the kids, and she wanted her face painted.
So I went into the blast furnace of the marquee and there was this lovely woman painting the faces of the children.
It was quite bizarre, 42C the pavement melting and a brass band playing 'Jingle Bells'. Riding through the snow in a one horse open sleigh in a climate where you would be put in gaol for animal cruelty for allowing such a thing - such are Christmas carols!
I asked the face painter if she would go to a client in the facility and paint her face. I told her I would gladly pay.
'Sure what sort of design' she asked. "I think a butterfly on her cheek".
We get to her room.
Delight on her face.
'What sort of design would you like'
I want whiskers, a Red nose and looking like a reindeer.
Ten minutes later all done.
I walked the face painter back out of the facility and gave her twenty. She refused.
'I've already been paid'
Tears where streaming down our faces.
We had both been paid.
