Nessie (Pearlie's late sister), Paddy and a young neighbour. Picture probably from late 70s-early 80s.
It was back
in February 2012 that we first heard
that
Bert's Uncle
Paddy had died.
It
turned out that reports
of his death were greatly exaggerated and he managed to live fairly
independently for a
few more
years. Then he took what
folk around here call 'a turn' and ended up in hospital. He was there
for more than a month and it was becoming obvious to everyone around
him that independent living was no longer possible. His home, a
converted chicken shed, had few amenities which meant that home support wasn't
an option.
Carers tend
to look for
running
water, electricity and flushing toilets. Paddy had none of these
luxuries. So he went to a nursing home and,
by all accounts, it
was
a nice enough place.
His
turn had left him confused. At
first
he talked a lot about going home. When his friend Julie visited him
he always
expected
her to take him back
to his own place.
But it
was not to be. He told Bert that the 'hospital' was a nice enough
place and
that
they were good to him there
but
he'd rather go
home. As the
months
passed he settled down but there was a reason for this. Once
when Bert was visiting Paddy put this question to him.
D'ye know who owns this hospital?
I don't know that.
I own it.
Do you?
I do. I bought it from Samuel Carruthers. He was going to France and needed the money.
Is that so?
Aye. I gave him three thousand pounds for it.
And
Paddy was content enough to stay in the nursing home knowing that it
was his own place. Julie
phoned last night to let Bert know he'd taken another turn and was
back in the hospital. She phoned again this morning to tell us that
he had died.
Bert
saw Paddy two weeks ago, said he looked very well and seemed straight
enough in his mind. He was talking about his dogs and seemed pleased
that Roy was well settled with us. There was no talk of wanting home.
He told Bert again that it was his hospital. Bought and paid for.
Three thousand pounds.
3 comments:
It's not everyone gets to pass away in their own hospital...or even gets to pass away twice in their lifetime! Roy is such a sweet dog aswell. Paddy would have loved to have seen him running around with Ziggy.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
Thanks Claire. I'll pass that on to Bert. To be honest I hardly knew Paddy. I only met him a few times. But I heard so much about him from Bert that I feel as if I knew him well.
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