I have received ‘Ikigai: The secret to a Long and Happy Life’ by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles today. I am hoping that the ‘Happy’ bit helps me with removing pain from my life. Am I beginning to sound like a stuck record? Sorry. Actually, I did have some time today that wasn’t too bad but by the time I had been swimming and returned home, well, it was bad. I like to keep my descriptions simple.
My main mission today was to close Mum’s bank accounts. As I walked out of the final bank, I came face to face with the building where Mum and Dad had their Wedding Reception. As I looked up to the dirty windows of the now closed venue, the ones you can see on the photo above, I felt the ghosts of a once vibrant town disappearing back to their time of joy and happiness. That was it, I was done. It just all felt very final. I know it isn’t, as they both live me with every day, and I know the reduction in the gabapentin is messing with my brain. I look forward to feeling brighter soon once the effects of the drugs go away.
In my task (above), I had to visit a couple of our local towns. I thought I would only have to do the one but it seems that one of the banks I needed had closed its branch in Sad Town in north east Nottinghamshire. This meant me heading off to the only branch left open after 15.00 in the patch. It was about 15 miles away and in a different county from where I was. Sad Town is in a very sorry state. Not wishing to sound too ‘Union Leader’ but it was devastated by the closures of the coal mines in the mid 1980’s and has become worse from there. The local council are currently trying to cheer things up but I suspect the people that live there have given up hope and really don’t care anymore. Dad loved the place but it has declined even since he shed his mortal coil 16 months ago. It is like a little version of Detroit.
That feels like a cue for me to listen to some cheery Motown as I drift off to sleep to the hissing of the CPAP Machine.