The last two weeks have been very difficult for all of the remaining members of the Nelson family, and particularly distressing for me personally. What began as a heart attack experienced by my mother, just over two weeks ago, has gone on to reveal Pneumonia, a chest infection, various other infections and medical complications, which have seen her health deteriorate significantly over the last week and a half.
She is seriously ill and there have been moments when we feared the worst. It's proving very difficult to bear but, thanks to the careful ministrations of the fantastic hospital staff, there is, at the moment, a very slight improvement in her condition, a glimmer of hope, though she is far from being 'out of the woods'.
At best, mum is going to be in hospital for several weeks yet. She isn't eating and is very weak and frail, but we're all encouraging her to try and build up her strength. Seeing her in such a state is heartbreaking. Nevertheless, we're hoping for some sort of recovery, though her life will clearly not be restored to what it was before, and some sort of care will need to be put in place.
I guess, as she is at the grand old age of 91 years, that we have to accept the natural forces at work on her system, forces that have, inevitably, led to these problems. But she seems so young and sound in her heart and mind that we can't imagine her being so profoundly depleted by her current condition.
So, each and every day of the last two weeks, Emi and I have travelled to Wakefield to spend five or six hours by her bedside, holding her hand and praying that she might get well again. It has been very stressful and debilitating. I'm finding it hard to get a decent night's sleep and, obviously, preparation for the November 9th event has taken a back seat to the more important and urgent problem of mum's condition. It's an incredibly stressful time...
Thankfully, there has been wonderful support from my nephew Julian and my eldest daughter Julia, (who has travelled up from London to help us at the hospital for a few days.) They've both been a pillar of strength and support.
I'm trying to hold up but am ultimately hopeless, suffering the usual man's fear of mortality, wishing that these sort of things were not happening. I've had to face the reality, but finding it hard. My mum is the last link to my childhood, infancy and birth...especially now that my brother and father are gone. There is no-one else who can remember and share those long ago 1950s golden days with me, except my mother.
On the 'Old Haunts' album launch event front, I have, somehow, managed to complete the hour and eight minute long video that will accompany the preview playback of the album. I've also managed to decorate a wonderful guitar that has been very generously donated by the Eastwood company to be auctioned at the event in aid of Sarah's Hope Foundation, a charity which I wholeheartedly support. The guitar is a tribute to a Supro Coranado model and I have to admit that, since receiving it a couple of weeks ago to decorate, I liked it so much that I've used it on a new recording. So, whoever wins the guitar at the event auction, will not only own a guitar decorated and signed by myself but will also be able to say that it was actually played on a recording of mine. Make no mistake, this guitar is a fabulous prize, retailing at almost a thousand pounds. Perhaps, with my drawing and signature on it, it may eventually be worth much more.
So, I hope that there will be someone at the event who will bid handsomely for it and by doing so benefit a very worthwhile charity.
Now I need to spend an hour or two working on the listening notes that are required for the 'Old Haunts' launch party event...
THE EARLIEST PHOTOGRAPH I HAVE OF MY MOTHER, JEAN. NOT SURE HOW OLD SHE WOULD BE WHEN THIS WAS TAKEN, BUT CLEARLY VERY YOUNG.
A PHOTOGRAPH OF 'THE MIDNITE KREEPERS', A THREE PIECE BAND I HAD IN THE EARLY 1960S. WE DIDN'T HAVE A BASS PLAYER AT THAT TIME. I'M SITTING ON AN OLD 'RILEY' CAR AT A GARAGE THAT ONCE WAS LOCATED BEHIND THE 'REGAL' CIMEMA IN WAKEFIELD. (YOU CAN SEE THE CINEMA BEHIND ME, THE BIG FLAT ROOFED BUILDING.) NOT SURE WHAT THE RILEY'S OWNER WOULD HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT US SITTING ON HIS CAR THOUGH!