The Leech Family Newsletter

What can I say about 1998? It has not been a good year for us. In February Mum started to get ill again and by May she was back in hospital. They did various tests and found that the cancer had spread to her kidneys and lungs. They operated on the kidneys but could do nothing for the lungs. Her life expectancy started off as months then got reduced to weeks and finally days. Dad, Richard, Sally, Linda and I spent the last few days with her on a constant bedside vigil. It was very upsetting as she was on morphine and oxygen. In between she was her usual jolly self and managed to put lipstick on and worry about everyone else. She went peacefully in the end and it was nice to see she was no longer in pain.

The funeral was quite jolly in some ways which she would have liked. It was nice to see all the relatives again and all of us said something in the church service, even Dad. I thought I would be unable to do it but somehow I managed. I think the fact that I had a job to do took my mind off the sadness.

Dad is coping somehow. We all go to see him taking ready cooked meals etc. I have taken Mums place in an embroidery class to finish off something she started for Linda. It has a nice feel of continuity about it for me and for all the other ladies in the class. The classes are near where Dad lives so I get to see him on a regular basis.

We went to Wales as usual this year. It was nice to see Tim and Ellie but hard to go without Mum. Weather not too bad. Previously we had been to a party in York for Tim’s sister Angelas wedding so we had already seen a lot of the Wales regulars. The party was quite momentous for Tom as he met his first girlfriend Natalia. Unfortunately she lives in Buxton so seeing her is a bit of a problem. They spend hours on the phone chatting and send each other faxes and E-mails! On the way and way back from Wales we called in to see her. Its good because she has a sister called Bethany who gets on very well with Kate. On our return from Wales we took Natalia and Bethany to the American Adventure theme park which was a great success. Tom Kate and Natalia all went on this ride which was a 200ft-freefall drop that went into a swing. It was absolutely terrifying to watch but they loved it. When they got to the top of this structure someone had to pull the ripcord to release them. Kate got landed with the job, she is very brave, I would never go on anything like that.

Tom has changed enormously since he turned 13. He is now taller than me and has size 11 feet (the same as Steve’s) His schoolwork has improved a lot and as he is now at the top of the school, gets to be head of house and a librarian. He’d like to be a prefect so he is working on that one! He recently played for the first XV rugby team at school. They needed someone with a bit of substance as all the other boys are quite small.

Kate is very involved in netball at the moment. She was chosen for the first time to play on the team at school. She has captained the second team and played a lot with the first team as well. She is also doing well academically. She is in the scholarship class but we are not sure which school she will go to next. Tom is taking his Common Entrance this year for his next school. He is going to City of London Freemans School in Ashtead. It is quite a big co-ed school. Tom decided he would like to go co-ed after being in a boys school for a while. Its possible that Kate might go as well but we still have two more years to decide.

We have just had Kate’s birthday party. We did a Murder Mystery Party. It was a boxed game and was very successful. We had ten girls and two boys staying the night. They were all very well behaved and I think they did get some sleep. The game was especially for 12 years and up and was geared to their age group unlike the other games we have played.

We have just decorated Kate’s room. She chose the colours, lime green and orange. It looks really nice and bright. Steve made her a bunk bed with a sofa bed underneath. I colour washed the walls in a nice warm yellowy orange with turquoise and lime green accents (I’ve been watching Changing Rooms too!)

After we finished the conservatory, I did all the decorating. I rag-rolled the walls and then stencilled over the top. We have a big wisteria bush on the walls, a few columns, ivy and an orange tree. As you can tell I really went to town. It looks really good. I also made all the soft furnishings and it’s all very bright.

Well, it has been a very sad year for us all with Bobbie passing away at the end of May. We still have to take each day at a time.

We haven’t done as well for holidays this year as we normally do. Apart from our usual Wales trip, we tried to get abroad to the sunshine in October but everything was full. We just couldn’t get in anywhere. It was because of the lousy weather we had in the UK in August and everyone had decided to go away for half term. We eventually had a few days in Cornwall. One of my new Partners has a cottage in Coverack near Lizard Point and we spent a nice week walking and being blown away by the fresh (90mph gusts) air. Last time I went to Cornwall, there was a feeling of isolation from the rest of England but this time the new fast roads across Bodmin and Dartmoor had brought Burger Kings, Tesco’s and Mobile phones, (although it still takes longer to drive to Cornwall than to fly to New York)

I managed this year to fracture my coccyx by falling off a helter skelter at the Hurlingham Club, which caused me some pain. Gay and I and my new partners had gone out for a black tie bash on a fine summers evening and had ended up on the funfair in the early hours….. the rest is obvious……. Apparently it will heal but it seems to be taking a while.

Well that’s all for now.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR