Chapter 31 - Beginning a New Day

The alarm wakes me at 6:30am. "I've been trying to sit up for the last 15 minutes" she says from her bed. In a stupor I have difficulty disentangling myself into the aisle between our beds. I roll back her doona, pull her legs as a pair over the side of her bed. Her legs balanced in mid-air aid a gentle push on her shoulders to bring her to an upright position; almost, for she grasps the bed pole. I grope on the floor for her soft sloppy brown shoes, the ones she uses to and from the loo. "No, wrong foot" she says as I catch the toes of her left foot in the right shoe. I'm not quite with it, down on the floor, in the dimness. "Pills first or the loo?" I ask. "The loo." She lifts easily using the sling around her back. She stands with feet touching together, no balance, I hold her tightly (like I once did on the way home on Saturday nights when we were young) until she is able to shuffle her feet apart and support herself. Still holding her, she gradually rotates herself so that we can head towards the bathroom. Did you once play trains as a kid, sliding your feet while yelling "Choo-choo"? That is how we proceed, very slowly, beyond the beds and towards the bathroom, without sound effects other than that of her feet sliding on the carpet. I leave her at the doorway "Will you be OK now?" "Yes, I'm alright." as I head to the other side of the house. Through all doors open echo the sounds of tinkling in unison. I return to find her slightly stooped but holding her new fireman's pole high up. More shuffling until she turns towards the door. Back in the bedroom she takes her first medication for the day, washed down with water from her Windows XP water bottle. She shakes off her shoes beside the bed, slowly lifts her right knee onto the bed then topples sideways. I roll the doona back. Into bed myself. I lay there. The clock chimes seven, just as she gives a soft lady-like snore. I collect our CB radios, leave hers on her bedside table and tip-toe out to my dungeon. The day has started.