Excuses, Excuses!
The Wheely Amazing Gap Year is officially over. Racheal started at The Hamlet Centre four weeks ago and two weeks later Summer left for university.
I’m way behind with writing about our adventures, but I’m determined to complete the task.
Since the last blog entry, we have been camping in Suffolk, to the Peak and Lake Districts, spent two weeks on a canal boat and had a wonderful week adventuring at Bendrigg Lodge near Kendal.
I have some (I think) legitimate excuses for my tardiness on the blogging front. Firstly, these final trips had a very different feel being shorter and less ‘gap-year-ish’. The dynamics were quite different and, being shorter trips, we had less time to spend recording the experience while we were there or, in the case of camping and the canal boat, no internet. Add to that some very short periods at home between trips and illness - shingles closely followed by a two week throat infection leaving me drained of energy.
We returned from our final trip on the first Friday in September and on the Monday Racheal started her adult day care placement at The Hamlet Centre. She goes four days a week with Wednesdays off, when she has a session at Able2B - a gym for rehabilitation and people with disabilities.
Racheal has thrown herself wholeheartedly into her new life with a confidence which makes me brim with pride! At The Hamlet, she has a varied programme including crafts, music, baking, sensory massage, and trips to the pub! She has quickly taught the staff how she communicates and often teases them, finding it highly amusing. Currently I am transporting her to and from Norwich every day, which takes a big chunk of my time, but hopefully we will have new carers soon who will relieve me of that responsibility.
Lorraine and Clive have been Racheal’s fantastic, overnight respite carers for the past two years but we have had to say farewell to them too as they have retired. Racheal enjoyed one last weekend with them at the end of September. I will always be grateful for the love and care they gave shown to her, and particularly for their flexibility to fit in with our gap year plans.
Summer has been an incredible help over the past year, at home as well as on our travels. She has really become part of the family. It was hard to say good bye at the end of her final shift, but we will keep in touch and visit her in Leeds when she has settled into her new life.
Lots of people have asked if I’m missing the travelling. Yes! I have always loved travelling, and hope we will do many more trips in the future. I’m not finding it particularly easy to settle back into the routine of home life, though there are certainly benefits of having all Racheal’s equipment handy and a washing machine readily available. There might be a couple of plans in the pipeline for next year though - always nice to have something to look forward to.
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