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Post date: 31-Dec-2015 19:09:03
Jonah and I are home again today after our trip "up north" to see Reuben, Anne and their kids. Things were a bit hectic and internet access wasn't great, which explains the lack of any posts while we were away. The original plan had been for Nathan to accompany Jonah, but then we remembered that it would mean him missing Georgia's birthday (which was on Monday, the day we'd arranged to travel up). That provoked a bit of a fight between me and Lucy over which of us would go with Jonah. (We couldn't very well expect Anne to put us both up when the only reason for us to go was to look after Jonah during the train journey.) In the end I won, because, although we all know that Lucy is incredibly mature and capable for her age, other people were liable to consider that it was irresponsible to dispatch a paralysed man on a train with only a fifteen-year old girl to accompany him. Peter tried to argue that he ought to do it, since I look after Jonah when he's working, but Lucy was very unimpressed by the idea of being left alone with me for three days. I'm quite sure that she and Peter had a great time in my absence.
The children were delighted to see their granddad in their own home - which doesn't happen very often since his injury - and Reuben actually admitted that he thought his dad's new living arrangements were working very well (which is a bit of a breakthrough, because, in his heart of hearts, he really thinks that Jonah should be in a care home, rather than depending on his friends to look after him). George is six now and considers himself very grown-up. Carolyn started school in September and seems much older in consequence. Little Andrew is still rather a strong silent type, but he's starting to talk now, so previous concerns that there was something inhibiting his speech development appear t have been unfounded. He loves sitting on Jonah's lap and listening to stories. Of course, none of the kids can remember a time before Jonah's injury, so they just accept him the way he is. It's more difficult for their father, who keeps thinking about all the things Jonah used to do with him when he was their age.