A flock of hens
Sam and Caitlyn’s wedding is very close now. We have organised our outfits, Sean and Colt have booked haircuts, and Rory a hot towel shave. We have been working on Sean’s speech and organing the few last minute details. This weekend Nana and I joined some of the activities organised for Caitlyn’s Hens weekend by her Matron of Honour and mother Tracey. It was nice getting to know Caitlyn’s extended family and friends a little bit better. The approach of the wedding is generating a tide of emotion for me; our oldest son is getting married, the absence of a daughter in my life and the gaining of one, and my dad not being alive to be there on the day. I said to Sean I may need a box of tissues.
Rory’s continues to soldier on with life. Sometimes it feels like life is a battle for him. Everything is hard and he struggles to find joy. Sean and I (and the other adults around him) are noticing considerable variation in his cognitive functioning. Some days Rory is capable of his usual tasks and other days he cannot concentrate to achieve even the simplest things. It makes us realise how much he still can do. What if his cognitive ability continues to decline with time and he has to be assisted with everything? It is an almost overwhelming thought.
Thank you to Sam and Caitlyn who cared for Rory and Colt last weekend so Sean and I could slip away for our 26th Anniversary (and my birthday) to the central North Island. The highlights were cycling the Old Coach road https://www.mountainstosea.nz/ohakune-old-coach-road/ , soaking in the Wairakei Terraces thermal pools, visiting Lava Glass https://lavaglass.com/ and lunching at Franks Ohakune. The colours of the rock formations and vegetation along Desert Road and up to the Whakapapa ski field are vivid and breathtaking.