What About You?

15th May 2012

A lovely woman from the carers support team at Age Uk sits on my sofa and tells me about all sorts of things that are available to us. Like Take a Break Vouchers and Walking Groups and a Men in Sheds Scheme and an advice service about how to navigate through the benefits warren. 

She’s sympathic and says my husband is so young to be going through all this. This charity usually deals with much older people. I cry a bit.  Especially when she says,

‘What about you - what do you need?’

I don’t know. And I don’t know how much of what’s on offer we’ll use yet -  but I’m so moved that it exists at all. I still can’t quite get used to the idea that I qualify as a carer - that’s not what I am in my head.

While I’m finding out what it might mean my husband goes off to buy lettuce seeds. He discovers the hand brake in his car isn’t working. He has to leave it in the garage for possibly three days, which complicates all our separate travel arrangements. I try and imagine what it would be like if we had to share one car. Although it’s probably an extravagance to have two cars, at the moment it feels more like a life raft on a violent sea - keeping our independence afloat.

Luckily my husband has a bicycle too.....