comings and goings.....

It's been good to have Katie at home, even for a few days, and especially so last night when she cooked us a meal!  


Apart from Katie's brief visit, it's been a quiet week, both of us fully occupied one way or another.  We took some time out on Wednesday night to go to the AGM of the local allotment association - not because we are members, but to say thank you for allowing me to do my photography project there last year and to give a presentation of some of the resulting images, including the RHS competition winner. People were very complementary (which was nice!).  Those who know about Steve's illness were delighted to see how well he is looking, nearly ten months after mesothelioma was diagnosed.  


It came home to me this morning just how fortunate we are in this respect, when I read about Malcolm McClaren.  He was diagnosed with mesothelioma in October 2009, was very active until the end of February when his tumour became very aggressive.  Over the next six weeks or so his health deteriorated rapidly, and he died yesterday, aged 64. Our thoughts are with his family and friends, as they are with all other victims of this awful disease, regardless of whether their deaths are reported in the national and international media.  


It has brought home to me again how precious time is - not that I need much reminding - and how important it is to make the most of every day, especially whilst Steve is still able to enjoy it.  Must finish my report as soon as possible, so we can spend lots of quality time together!


In the meantime, it's a relief to know that someone else is pursuing the damages claim on Steve's behalf, although that has raised an interesting issue about responsibility for exposing Steve to asbestos - is it the City Council as education authority at the time Steve was involved in demolishing partitions in 1971 when he was a student at what was then Oxford Polytechnic; is it the County County who took over the role of education authority in 1974 when local government was reorganised, or is it the establishment itself which became an independent statutory corporation in 1989 a year after it became Oxford Brookes University.  The claim has already been passed from the City Council to the County Council.  It will be interesting to see where the buck finally stops and who takes responsibility.....