I’m heading out on another of those journeys that I find I have little choice over as it quite simply has to be taken. A couple of weeks before I took my break from blogging, my mother died. It wasn’t unexpected as she was a rather elderly and unwell woman. What did surprise me, was that she has left me some money. I believed that because of the way our relationship had been over the years, I had expected she would have totally written me out of her will, just as she had told me years ago, she had done to my elder brother. It turns out that was just another one of the hurtful things she said, rather than acted on. She chose to leave all of her four children, exactly the same as each other. If she had died four years earlier it would have been a considerable amount, but almost everything she had, has been swallowed up paying for her care over those years. What we have each been left is still a wonderful gift and one I never thought I would receive.
Like everything in life, closing a persons life, doesn’t go as smoothly as anyone would think, and it has taken until now for the money to actually be on its way to me. The delay though has allowed me time to actually think about what I want to do with that money. Not that it was actually that difficult. I have decided to spend it on repairs and redecoration of our home. Some rooms haven’t been painted since we moved in here 17 years ago, the most recently done was the bathroom 7 years ago when we were forced to change the entire room so that I could manage to have a shower. It was always me who did all the DIY. I had been doing it all my life without a seconds thought, it was there to be done, so I did it. 10 years of being totally useless and another 5 on top of being almost useless, well the results are not clear to see. The whole place desperately needs attention and at last, we can afford to actually do it. Along with other jobs like getting the curtains cleaned and small bits and pieces being fixed through out the house, all equally long over due.
It all seemed like such a good idea when I first thought of it, but my doubts have grown precisely to match my excitement. I guess that it is a female thing this making our homes, our personal nest, something I did years ago before I became housebound. I knew that one day I wouldn’t be able to work, so it all had to be perfect. When I look around the flat now, well it makes me feel as jaded as it is. I know nothing lasts forever, but I never thought that I would have the opportunity to do anything about it. I have decided that I am going to simply have them redo our home exactly as it is. No new colours, nothing changed too much as that would mean changing everything else as well, and my mother didn’t leave enough for new furniture, carpets, and curtains too. It is enough though to fix all those little jobs that have been piling up because I can’t do them. Like the last three doors in the hall that never got rubbed down and polished to match the other three I did. Or the dripping tap in the bathroom, which Adam is too unsure about what it takes to have even tried. Or the flooring in the kitchen that has gaps where some tiles have slid and bear patches caused by my electric chair. Or the sealant around the windows that have discoloured and needs changing. Luckily, there is enough to do all that.
On the surface, it all sounds wonderful, but there is one huge problem, me. You just have to read my previous post to know exactly why that is. How am I going to manage all those strangers in my home? Yes, this is another one of those joys that chronic illness brings with it. I have been longing for years to have the house redecorated and to be honest, Adam isn’t the person to do it, but like any other house proud woman, this has been a dream of mine for years but it is equally, a total nightmare all rolled into one.
I have spent several hours over the last few days online, searching for a company to undertake the work, which has good reviews and so on. So far, I have spoken to 5 different companies and two of them, have actually been to the house to take a look at what needs doing and to give me a quote. A few years ago I would have approached this whole thing differently as it is no longer just about the quality of the workmen, it is also about finding a company that is happy to undertake the work and willing to work around my medical needs as well as my irrational routine fixation. I had initially had this dream in my head that I would be able to find one company who would do everything, my searches have shown that dream to be impossible. Although, I am hopeful to have brought it down to just three rather than streams of them. Either way though, this will mean a lot of people in and out of my home for several weeks. I am thinking that it might be a good idea if once I have a complete timetable of who is here and when that it might be a good idea if I asked Laura to come and sit with me at least once a day to help keep my anxiety level just that bit more settled. Not just for me, but for those who will be around me.
Despite all of that, oddly, I am looking forward to all these things being completed, to actually having a home I can wake up in daily and be proud of again. I know without a doubt that the way it has deteriorated has played a role in my not wanting people here, even those that I’ve really needed. I have been ashamed of it, as it just isn’t my home as I remember it, the way it was when I for the very last time, I closed my front door behind me. I also know, that it isn’t just me who will be pleased to see all these things done, as Adam has said often that he feels the constant pressure of all those things waiting for him to one day find the time, the money, and the skill, to fix. As I said at the start of this post, I never expected to be left a single thing, but thanks Mum, you have left both Adam and me exactly what we both really needed, but you have also left me a future living nightmare.
Two Rooms Plus Utilities 