My Last Holiday

By Rosemary Clarke

To begin with, I asked Len to come up with ideas for me to use as stories, poems etc as I'm fed up with talking about troubles etc, so here is the first:

   I don't know about my last holiday, but being with my niece Nat is always a holiday and so really, I have lots of little ones when I see her.
Because of a bus hitting me and the brain damage it caused I find it very hard to be spontaneous, but following Nat around, I learn things and have adventures finding out about me and the world around me.

Going out with her is never a chore; she's always diving into new shops on the high street or finding unusual things to eat or to wear.

When I'm with her, and I'm not the only one to say this, it's a huge adventure and you always come back with unusual desserts she's found in Iceland, a new band from HMV or a T-shirt  top or some knick-knack from a second-hand shop that looks just right and you'd never have looked at it without her.

Southend, Rayleigh and many other places become better and more interesting for me, but as well as this it's the way she gathers her friends around to help her and others, as she does them; no one is in trouble or upset for long with Nat because you always know that, whatever it is, no matter how bad, there's a solution at the end of the phone.

My last real holiday was about 1991when I still had my neck brace on, but thanks to Nat, it's a holiday just to be with her.

Copyright Rosemary Clarke