Love From X and Y

12th December 2011 Monday

Christmas cards spread all over the desk and on the floor of my study. A long list of addresses by my elbow. I planned to at least write the overseas ones. But I let the day sweep me up in other things - hand washing jumpers, cooking risotto - the buffeting wind and rain unsettling me - my excuse anyway. Maybe I just don’t want to write about my husband’s brain disability to our friends who don’t know.

When we receive a card with love from X and Y - my husband says,

Who are they?

And I paint word pictures, snippets of the lives of the people we know and love, memories of things we’ve done together, till he says,

Oh, yes of course I know who you mean.

I’ll remind him again when we hang the cards up on long red ribbons on Christmas eve.

This afternoon I sit on my father’s bed and read him the Christmas letters he has received over the last week. He knows who love from X and Y are. But he doesn’t know if he had a bath yesterday or not. Or if December is the last or the first month of the year.

I have a feeling I’ve missed the last posting days overseas anyway. I could always write emails......