SCABs

Thank – you for your Intro Pete. @susanmcfadzean

Promised some swear words, we were introduced to Pete Cain on Tuesday 12th. 
And we were treated to a few. But sticking with me is not his f’s and q’s, rather that he chose to share a poignant and personal struggle of a boys life with us. I bet that kid has courage and strength ten fold.
For want of a better cliche, Pete got the hairs on my arms standing up. A number of years ago my grandmother had a stroke which threw her into a coma and damaged her brain. 
I had left to take a summers holiday and on our temporary farewell a healthy, comforting and familiar granny had kissed me on the forehead, slapped my butt cheek and told me to run off and not miss my flight. Without such clarity, I remember returning home and walking into the hospital and up to her bed side. Physically and somewhat mentally she was back to the baby she once was. Her stroke had messed with her brain, stolen the power of speech, the ability to walk and drained all the strength from her limbs. 
But her character remained. Similarly to Pete, I listened as she struggled and forced herself to greet me, all the while doing a fabulous job to hold back the tears. 
But it was the determination and hard work in the following years that blew my mind. Gran was in her 70’s but she was never ‘tired’ or lacking motivation. She taught herself to talk again, training the brain with que cards and kids games. She taught herself to walk again, with aid and physiotherapy until she could move around with only a stick for balance. She never regained the power on the right side of her upper body and from then taught herself to eat, brush her teeth and write her Christmas cards with her left hand. I have never seen such handwriting that could burst and break my heart simultaneously. She’d spend hours on those cards. Crafting each letter with attention and care. And still, they’d wobble around the page with the innocence and vulnerability of a pre school child’s. 
But importantly to me, she would agree: Hard work does beat talent. So this year is for her. When the tough gets going, I better get up and go. Go get shit done. No excuses. Her blue days usually lasted all of five minutes. She find something to chuckle at. Most often at herself after messing up her words; she occasionally enjoyed a ham and cheese jigsaw for lunch. Or offered me her can-pake recipe for Shrove Tuesday. Lost her ‘shovel’. 
I feel I’ve got a juggling act ahead of me, with not only SCA to contend with for the year. But that’s okay, life was never ment to be a walk in the park. So !!!! Better to get started on what will definetly be a shit first book – promised this by Stu @ Creature today. At lest the second one will smash it if he is correct. 
TGIF 
(not really, just liked the sign off.)

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