Hopefulness and Plans

This morning my sister and I drive through heavy rain a little way into Wales to visit our cousin and his partner. He comes to the gate to greet us carrying two umbrellas and a big smile. He's skeletal thin, walking with a stick. The cancer is in his bones now- in his leg. He's managing the pain with morphine.....his weight loss is due to a low carb healing diet......and he's on a new drug trial too.

We sit in their bright conservatory with the rain hammering on the roof and talk. His partner makes us a tasty vegan lunch - bursting with flavour and freshness. When the rain stops they give us a tour of their wonderful rambling garden with the pond, one of my husband's hippo ceramics snoozing on the edge of the deck....... and the stepped paths and the fruit trees - damsons, apples and pears...... the netted strawberries and green house full of tomatoes ......and her studio at the top..... and the shed he's building with a place to put his grandmother's rocking chair with a view of the vegetable garden

I love his hopefulness and his plans. He says he's enjoying all the small and simple things in his life, and deepening his connections with family and friends. Every now and again I catch something in his expression, in his gestures, in his laugh, and I see  the likeness of his father.....and my father....and my brother....the family line shining on in him.

  I feel so blessed, so grateful for our connection and the warm heartedness of this brief day we shared with him and his partner.