For my old school pal

Covid has affected all of us in so many different ways.  For some of us our lives have not really been that badly affected.  The sun still comes up and the sun still goes down.  For me I have continued to work throughout the pandemic and unlike a lot of people I will still have a job at the end of it so I most certainly do consider myself  luckier than an awful lot of people. 

We have all got used to the fact that we have to socially distance and that we may have to choose the right time to go to the supermarket so that we are not stood in queues for what seems like hours.   We have all had to become a little more tolerant of others and the new fashion accessory is now a face covering, and not let us forget that the new catch phrase for the so many of us 'You're still on mute'.

I doubt that any of us thought that one year on from when Covid 19 was first mentioned that we would still be in the midst of such an awful situation and no matter who you talk to they all have an opinion on how the pandemic should of been handled by the government and what to do with those who continually break the lockdown rules.  I  wonder if people are just becoming fatigued with it all now. Even though we now have the vaccines it was always going to take time to reach everyone.  Again I was fortunate as a keyworker to receive my first vaccine at the beginning of January and have my appointment booked for the 16th March for my second.  

All this aside that is not why I have posted the photograph above.  Like many of us I still have friends from my secondary school days and we have been through a lot in the last 45 + years and sometimes we drift a part but when it matters we are always there at the end of the phone.  

One such friend has recently been through what is possibly the toughest time she will ever endure and yet she has done so with the utmost dignity.    This particular friend had been with her partner for the best part of 15 years and having not had the best of relationships with her first husband it was lovely to see her find her soul mate.  They were your typical Darby and Joan.  It was at Christmas that Covid found its way to their door and the whole family went on to have positive tests.  For my friend and her daughter they just felt like they had a really heavy cold and although fatigued recovered well.  Unfortunately her partner seemed to be taking a bit longer to recover. He went into hospital just after Christmas with Covid related complications.  On no less than two occasions she was told he wasn't likely to recover but we all hoped that he may just turn that corner and seemed to be doing well.  Sadly whilst an inpatient they also ran some other tests and discovered that he had got advanced bowel cancer and once again she was given the devastating news that her lovely man would not be returning home. They had talked about getting married but just not taken that final step.  Having received such news plans were made in just three days and they married in ITU on the 23rd January this year not knowing just how long they would have as man and wife.   Sadly her lovely man passed away on February 4th with his new wife of just 10 days by his side.  

I know on these occasions most people would send flowers I wanted something that she could keep by her side and not fade away as flowers do.   I have long been an admirer of the works of Teresa Wentzler, she has created some of the most beautiful charts for cross stitch. Due to her own health she has now withdrawn from designing and in the world of cross stitch some of her charts are much sought after.  She did however make some free charts which are still available on her website here and this little Celtic Cross is just one of them.  It's stitched on 28 count evenweave and is 54 stitches high by 44 stitches wide and contains both cross stitches and specialty stitches as well as mill hill beads.  It took very little time to stitch and I finished it off by making it into a wall hanging. She contacted me this morning to say it had arrived and what a beautiful gift.   

Although I was raised C/E I can't say I have much of a faith anymore, although I hope there is that ethereal place that we all go to once we have done our time on this particular journey.   I completely understand that need to have that solace.  I hope this little Celtic cross will give her that comfort in the days ahead and the life she must continue without her soulmate by her side. 

Stay safe one & all and maybe give those closest to you an extra big hug because we never know what is around that next corner do we. 

Mx