Family Drama!

Life is never simple. The best laid plans etc etc. I could go on and on and perhaps I should.

The long and short of it is that I still hope to go to Bulgaria but a few days ago it was looking unlikely that I would. I am in France at present with the wife and daughter No. 4, the plan was to go back to the UK on Wednesday 27th, take a rehearsal in the evening, get myself sorted out ready for two weeks away from home and fly to Bulgaria on Saturday 30th.

On Monday afternoon the wife and I went into Le Mans for a walk and window shopping. Le Mans is the nearest city to our French house and is known the world over for the 24 hour car race which takes place on the outskirts of the city every June. The city itself has a wonderful old town, large sections of Roman walls and a fine Cathedral of which I am very fond. I went to look in the Classical section of Fnac (a shop selling mostly TV and video equipment but with some books and CDs) and found a 10 disk box set of Bach’s organ works for €19. I had long wanted a recording of a Bach organ work that I hadn’t identified, and was pleased to locate it quickly as the Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor. Great stuff! I was blasting it out in the car on the way home, when the wife started to complain of feeling a bit poorly. She is not a great fan of Bach organ works so after a small grumble I turned the volume down a bit.

She took to her bed that evening. By the morning (Tuesday) she was very ill indeed and not able to walk nor move. She was being sick profusely and wanted a doctor. We couldn’t find one to come out so I got her to the car and wheeled her to the local town. The doctor there (whom we have seen before) jumped her to the front of the large queue (many thanks) and was sufficiently concerned that she wanted her to go to hospital. Back to the car and to Le Mans, to a brand new hospital opened about 3 years ago with an A&E department (Urgences). She was now unable to walk and had to be fetched in a wheelchair.

She was admitted. I was pretty sure (as was she) that she had a problem with her inner ear. She’s had this before and it is very very unpleasant. You feel dizzy all the time and go deaf in that ear. I knew from what the GP had said and tested for that she (the GP) was worried it was something much worse. As I write (Thursday 28th) she has had the neurological tests and everyone is certain that it is only an ear infection. While this is a relief it is still spectacularly unpleasant, and she can still barely move. She is, I am pleased to report, making progress and hopes to be discharged soon.

So… where does that leave Bulgaria?

I have a flight booked at the crack of dawn (possibly earlier) on Saturday 30th. The wife has said very firmly that I should go, and now that we are all certain there is no danger I probably will. No. 4 daughter has GCSE exams on Monday so I have to get her back. We will leave the wife in a French hospital and come home to England tomorrow (Friday). I will then have a few hours to get myself together before the flight to Sofia. I could have flown from Paris, but then daughter No. 4 would have had to get back for her exams by herself. We have very good and kind friends in France who will look after the wife when she is discharged and daughters Nos. 1 & 2 plan to come out to look after her and get her back to the UK when she is fit to travel, which won’t be for a while after she is discharged.

Yes, I do feel callous and hard-heated, and perhaps I am!