Crumbling

Wednesday 12th April

Day 357

This morning I ring a number called The Care Aware Helpline to see if my husband is eligible for any benefits. The woman in Manchester says they only deal with the elderly.

But she says she’ll send me some forms about employment and support allowances which my husband may be able to claim if he can’t work. They used to call it incapacity benefit. My husband is too young to draw his pension. He wants to work. He is a 40% tax payer.

‘I don’t want to be poor,’ he says. His head is low over his plate.

It’s hard to eat roast potatoes when you are crying. They taste like dust. Like the world is crumbling in your mouth.