We lost our neighbour, Mick, yesterday. Marks best mate & for want of a better term partner in crime. We hadn't seen Mick since Sunday night some time after tea. He'd come over to talk with Mark while he was his shed. Sheds were where they loved to be, tinkering on one project or another & usually they were working on them together. Then he went home. I'm not sure if Mark went over there later or not but that really doesn't matter now.
As I mentioned we hadn't seen him since Sunday night which wasn't all that unusual in itself. You know a single man living alone sleeping odd hours. We thought he was awake while we slept and he slept while we were awake. He'd done that hundreds of times before. So it was unusual in itself. The only thing we did find strange was that his cat, CK, kept coming over to our house. Not that it was strange as he often came to socialise. Its what our cats do - the visit one another's homes every now & then. Sometimes even sharing a feed while they were there. It seemed that CK hadn't been inside his 'home' for a while. That's when Mark used the spare key that Mick had given him so that he could check on him if we hadn't seen him for a few days.
I guess I should explain why we had the key in the first place. Firstly it was so we could feed CK if Mick ever went away for the weekend or on holiday. The other reason was a few years ago Mick had had a stroke. A really, really bad one & he had to relearn just about everything. That happened about 12 months before we met him. Mark told me today that the doctors were really surprised that Mick made such a good recovery as they didn't expect him to walk or talk again. He certainly proved them wrong. Mick had asked Mark to check on him if we hadn't seen him for a while just in case he might have had another stroke. There had been a few times where Mark had check him and he'd been dead to the world fast asleep because he had been awake at odd hours. Only this time when Mark checked he wasn't asleep. Mark knew before he had even put the key in the door that Mick was gone.
Of course Mark was in shock & came back home to tell me to phone the ambulance. Which of course I did. There was nothing Mark could've done to help him. No one is exactly sure what happened at this stage but he died in his sleep. The way he wanted it. He used to joke with me about it saying that was how he wanted to go. I'm glad he got his wish.
So you can imagine how our house has been since yesterday afternoon. telling the boys was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. I was so glad that I was there & that Mark told them straight up. I mean there really is no easy way to tell your kids that the neighbour they adored was gone.
Brodie has taken it the hardest. I knew he would. He loved Mick so much. He would run over there to share stuff with him all the time. I'm not too sure how Angus is taking it. He's a hard to to read. Its almost like he deliberately hides his emotions.
I can't even imagine how Mark is feeling. To find your best mate dead must be horrid.
All I can do is be there for each of them & for Marks twin, he knew Mick really well too. I'm okay for now. The grief rolls in like waves. You can be fine for hours & then something triggers you and it starts all over again. Its going to be tough for a while but I know it will improve. It always does eventually.
Regardless of how I feel though I need to be strong for everyone else. They depend on me so I can't let them down.
RIP Mick
You were well thought of, a good friend & you'll be missed a great deal.
Until we meet again!
You were well thought of, a good friend & you'll be missed a great deal.
Until we meet again!
2 comments:
Hugs for you and your family - what else can I say? **HUGS**
Thanks hon. Much appreciated.
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