I HATE THIS DAY

18th December, exactly one week before Christmas - this was the date that James was admitted to the RVI with meningitis 22 years ago.
It's always been a bit of a bogey date since then. Once it's out of the way I start looking forward to Christmas. Silly, I know, but there you go.
We had a very poorly little boy then, and it was only thanks to the prompt action of our GP that he was treated promptly and made a full recovery. So often I see other people who have had this illness but have been left terribly disabled. James was incredibly lucky, but at the time no one at the RVI could assure us that his recovery would be compete, or that he would even make it through.
I remember that in those days I used to make jewellery and I had been preparing lots of Christmas brooches at home ready to stock my stall at the Chantry. Obviously, everything was just left behind when the doctor arranged for an ambulance to take us straight to Newcastle and, when we returned on Boxing Day to find all the findings and beads and stuff lying on the table, it just seemed so trivial that I don't think I ever really bothered with jewellery making again and just wound up the stalls and called it a day.