If it wasn’t so completely awesome, I may well have become bored of my near-constant refrain now, “what a difference a year makes”.
Not much more than a year ago, we had an exciting helicopter trip to my Godfather’s house near Ipswich to spend the day with them and see their newly almost-finished renovations to their place. The flight, while being an added bonus, was actually a necessity – there was no way I was going to be able to cope with travelling a 4-hour round trip by car in a single day.
We’re back here this week, ostensibly to give a speech at a CF Trust fundraiser, but also for K and I to have a bit of a get-away and take some time to do the chilling out we were supposed to do in the Lakes this time last month.
Last time we were here, my abiding memory is sitting on the side of their gorgeous outside pool, trailing my oxygen tubing back to the small portable cylinder behind me, dipping my feet in the water while I watched everyone else swimming, splashing and having fun. This time round, I’m right in there with them, swimming, splashing and having fun.
It wasn’t until I was ducking and diving under the water, swimming lengths, seeing how far I could swim on one lung-full of air that I remembered how much of a water baby I used to be. Back in the days when I was a littl’un and my chest wasn’t too bad, I used to spend any time I could immersed in water. I had swimming lessons like a lot of kids, yes, but I also simply wallowed in water. Anywhere we went that had a pool – hotel, friends’ house – I’d be in there almost from the moment we arrived until I was dragged out to dry off before we left.
Floating around the pool in the sunshine yesterday, I suddenly remembered all those years ago and the sheer enjoyment I got from being immersed in water. It was heaven to be able to indulge myself again.
I spend so much time these days thinking whether or not I’ve been happier than I am right this minute. Every day seems to bring a flood of new experiences, old memories and to highlight just how much my life has changed in the last 7 months. It truly is a miracle and I truly feel like I’m managing to make the most of it.