This afternoon, Ants and I sat out in the sun, on the beach side of the nursing lodge, then went for a short walk up the rather steep driveway so we could catch a glimpse of the ocean.
To give you an idea of how exhausting this was for Ants, the distance up to the crest is about 15 – 20 ordinary strides. Anthony uses a walker of course, but can barely lift his feet so, for him, the distance to the crest was well over 100 shuffled steps, then back down again. Once inside, I could barely get him back to the armchair in his room and thought I’d have to get the wheelchair, but we made it.
Getting him to turn around, let go of the walker and sit in the chair took ages, and I finally used all my strength to sort of hoist him around and plonk him down. This left us both gasping and I got the giggles.
– I bet the nurses are much gentler with you, I said.
– But with you, there are sexual overtones, he said with a hint of a smile.
– For God’s sake, Ants, are you crazy? I yelped.
– Then why are you blushing?
I can assure you, I was not blushing!