Category Archives: Mark’s words

                                             Her scream wakes me up. It is the loudest most piercing scream I have ever heard, or ever want to.  It is alive with fear, and it comes from Elaine who is in the bed beside me. I cannot remember the date but it was early summertime last year. I’m wide awake in aContinue reading “A BAGEL FOR THE JOURNEY.”

Elaine was always one for getting things done and sorted well in advance, so as to be ready for the event if and when it should occur. I’m not certain she was always like this. I suspect it was the possibility, or probability, of recurring cancer that got her thinking this way. But certainly inContinue reading “LISTS”

“Elaine, no matter what where or who, I will simply love you forever.”- Mark. I guess we all have strange or weird experiences throughout our lives. Random and unexpected events which occur without any explanation or any known reason, but just happen out of the blue often during the most ordinary of days. Some hitContinue reading ““YOU’LL BE ALRIGHT.””

“I don’t want to linger. I want to go while someone still has something bad to say about me.” -ELAINE KIRSCH EDSALL.                                             On a hot Friday afternoon in July 1990, whilst I was working on the cottage where she lived, Elaine came home and as we talked announced that she wanted to go forContinue reading “HOLDING ON.”

September 2016. Elaine had been on a new chemo’ regime for a while now. It involved a hospital visit every three weeks and four main tablets to take twice a day in between, plus a few others as well. She was struggling with the tablets and seemed depressed with this treatment in general, also sheContinue reading “PLOTS AND PLANS.”

One of the longest spells Elaine had in hospital was in late ’96 early ’97, when she stayed in the Harbour Hospital at Poole for nearly two weeks. This was when she had her second mastectomy and bi-lateral reconstruction. She was, I believe, the only patient in the hospital over the New Year period atContinue reading “NEW YEAR OPERATIONS”

Not so many people know that Elaine and I married each other twice. The first time was December 29th 1995. The second time was July 18th 20??-  we could always remember the day but later were never sure of the year. Our original wedding came shortly after Elaine’s divorce from her first husband was finalised.Continue reading “ANNIVERSARIES.”

One year, 2006 I think, Elaine and myself had an alternative Christmas Day – on January 19th. It came about because of Elaine’s nearly step- dad Leslie. I say nearly because Elaine’s mum sadly died just before they were due to marry, but Les remained close, especially to Elaine. He was a nice man butContinue reading “ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS.”

At the top of our garden is a stone patio area in the shape of an inverted teardrop. I built it in ’96 when Elaine was undergoing her first ever course of chemotherapy. I was given the stone after building some mini dry stone walls for a friends mum and Elaine and I decided itContinue reading “Teardrops”

Elaine had always wanted to fly in a hot air balloon. One year as a surprise I booked us a flight that hopefully would take us over our home and locality, which is what she particularly wanted to do. These flights are very weather sensitive and after many cancellations we reluctantly took a trip fromContinue reading “DOWN TO EARTH …AGAIN”