Eighty

Prior to my continuing journey towards recovery a birthday in 2006 stuck in my mind. It was my mother-in-law's 70th birthday in August 2006 and the party was in Perth. We all had a great night but by that time I was having a real hard time being away from home and just walking any kind of distance. It was remembered as a false dawn. At the end of the party which was at my inlaws home there was a family friend in a wheelchair who I pushed home. That for me was a big breakthrough because as I said I was having trouble outdoors. The month before I had been in Manchester which still remains the last time I was out of Scotland. And while there I stayed indoors at my sister-in-laws. Even when her husband offered me his car keys to go to the shops I refused because the half mile journey was too much in my head. Anyway pushing a wheelchair for a mile seemed a turning point. We'd had alcohol at the party and to me that meant it was all in my head. The drink soothed my worry and allowed me to walk freely. Simple. But as it turned out at that point it was the last time I would be in Perth for 9 years and in fact from that day it was a long time before I even left my town again.

Ten years on it was time for another landmark celebration and this time an 80th birthday of course. This time last year it would have been a no go for me even though this time it was only a few miles away. My wife and her sisters had arranged for the party to be held at a hotel and for all parties to stay there. It was close enough that I could actually walk home if I needed to but thankfully that was not the case. I have to say I was taken back by the rooms. It cost us less for a family room that it would have done at a Holiday Inn or one of those types and yet the room was beautiful. It turns out they have two outbuildings aside from rooms in the hotel and we were in one of those which turned out to be great because we were well away from any late night noise and also on the ground floor. The only downside was that we did not spend a lot of time in it. Its a hotel named the Avonbridge Hotel and a grand little hotel it is too. It is the little sister of the much bigger Bothwell Bridge Hotel which is in the same style. It was a nice surprise and I am sure at some point we will be back at one of them.

I went for a long walk when we arrived as the hotel is situated close to Chatelherault Country Park meaning I could walk through the woods for as long as I cared to do so. Another good thing about the hotel is it was a sort of return as we once had a meal there so a lot of memories came back. Actually not a great memory as the meal I had years ago had a head staring up at me and so I could not eat it- no idea what it was but it was like a big insect. The party itself went well and the highlight, I felt, of the gifts was a canvas of the grandparents with all their grandchildren taken in the back garden. It was actually me who took the photo on my last visit up there. It was a good night and a good catch up. The following day everyone went to Chatelherault where the kids played in the park before a spot of lunch at the museum. Its been a very long time since everyone was together and hopefully it won't be the last.