In the midst of life.

I wake around a quarter to seven and let Normy into the garden, it is a cloudy morning and still very cold. I make soft boiled eggs and rye toast soldiers for breakfast and Norman has Bakers upon his return from his toilet patrol. I read the paper on my iPad over coffee and then shower and dress for nine o'clock. We are stood down from taking Pip's dogs out this morning, and as a consequence, I am in no particular hurry, so ring Graham Cooksey's secretary and ask if he could speak to me on the phone for a few minutes at his convenience. He isn't in until this afternoon and is operating when he arrives, but she says she will get the message to him and then either ring or text to arrange a time to speak. I feel better having taken the matter in hand, and decide to take Norman for a walk on the Westwood and drive to Albert Terrace, where I find a parking space outside Felicity's house. Being so close, I call in and chat to her for five minutes, she is waiting for Liz, her Sherpa, (care worker), to arrive and then they are going shopping into Beverley. Norman and I make our way through the lanes to the Westwood, encountering John Traynor coming the other way with his dachshund, Poppy. Usually he is also wheeling a push chair with his baby son, George in it, but his wife, Claire, has taken him out this morning. When we emerge onto the common, there is a cold wind from just east of due south, and the cloudy skies are showing just a hint of thinning and burning off. We walk as far as Black Mill and then turn round and cross Westwood Road, and follow the path past Minster Primary School, where Clement used to be a pupil. It is playtime and the children are making a happy racket as we pass by and then join the road that leads back to Albert Terrace. On our way home, I call at the dry cleaners in Dyer Lane and put three coats into clean, only to be told I could have four cleaned for fifteen pounds, so I say I will fetch another item in this afternoon. When we get home it is eleven o'clock and I decide to restart my Swimathon training, so after giving Normy a snack, I grab a raincoat out of the wardrobe for the cleaners, and then head to the baths. The pool is fairly busy, so I end up sharing a double lane with two other swimmers and warm up on an easy 400m backstroke, followed by the same on breastroke and front crawl and then finish off with 4 x 100m medleys. I deliberately take it very easy, even though I am feeling good, as I suspect I sometimes do too much too soon after illness. After my swim, I drink a tea in the cafe and then drive to Tesco's car park before taking a walk through town, dropping my raincoat at the cleaners as I pass. When I check my hairdressers down Windmill Walk, it is empty, so I pop in for a quick trim. There are birthday cards displayed and Paul tells me he is thirty six today, so wish him many happy returns. He has been to London for the weekend to celebrate and tells me he paid £25 to ride to the top of the Shard, which is adjacent to London Bridge Station. It seems a lot for a ride in a lift. I am collecting Louis from school this afternoon, so I make my way home for a quarter to three, collect Normy and then drive back to Beverley and park opposite the Police Station, before making our way down Bleach Yard to Saint Mary's Primary School. While I am waiting for Louis, I chat to his teacher, Mrs. Wildbore who laughingly tells me that Louis has gone football mad. When he comes out we return to the car and drive back to Tickton. Laura has a class today, so he is eating his ante pasta at my house before his swimming class at five. As we drive past the swing park in the village, Louis notices some youngsters kicking a football and asks if he can play for a while. So we stop and he plays with the boys for a couple of minutes, before their mums drag them home for their tea. They leave the football with us, it is old and punctured, but we make do with it and play for a quarter of an hour, practising penalties and corners until it is time for us to leave. There is just enough time left for Louis to eat and then we need to drive back to the Leisure Centre in Beverley. As I am putting his coat on, my phone rings, and I answer expecting Mr Cooksey's secretary, but it is Margaret phoning to tell me that Leslie died shortly before lunchtime, I tender my condolences and listen to the details, he had a bad night and then got worse through the morning. I am glad his suffering is ended, Margaret will let me know the funeral arrangements later in the week. We drive into Beverley and Louis asks what has happened, so I tell him that Leslie was very very old and has died. He accepts this as the natural course of events, which it is. We arrive a little late, but he only misses a couple of minutes of his class, I watch from the viewing area with a cup of tea and think about Leslie, I shall miss him greatly, he was a good friend and a wonderfully kind, generous and intelligent man. I am glad I was able to hold his hand and kiss him goodbye yesterday. After the class, I drive Louis home and leave him with Alice and then bump into Sarah as I walk to the car. I tell her about Leslie and ask how her throat is and she says it is much better. I arrive home again for half past six and open a tin for Normy's dinner, when Felicity phones to enquire about my conversation with the specialist and I have to tell her that I haven't heard from him yet, then she asks after Leslie and I break the news to her. Later I make some salad for dinner, my appetite has gone and the Parmagiana will have to wait until tomorrow. I try to to tackle a sodoku puzzle but my heart isn't in it tonight and I am just about to go to bed when Clement phones. His mum had told him about Leslie, and he knew him as our neighbour and sometimes used to walk on the Westwood with us on a Sunday before Leslie became too frail to walk so far. He has also been given the chance to study in Munich for a year and will go in the autumn and says he plans to do a crash course on German in the summer, although all his courses are in English. To bed at ten thirty.