Worried about Family...

23 Feb. 13

Somehow we lost a day or two. Yesterday morning I was typing on my laptop when Lola asked me what day it was. I told her it was Thursday. She then asked Rauen and he told her it was Wednesday. I asked her why she was asking and she told me she also thought it was Thursday. When she went onto Windfinder to check the weather it was Friday. Somehow we were all confused and a day disappeared without any of us knowing. For a while we joked that the calendar was changed and we never knew since we don’t have a television.

Whist pouring water from a jerry can into the water tank I noticed a small bubble in the paintwork near the filler cap. When I pressed on the bubble a crack appeared. I then tapped in the area around the crack. Everywhere I tapped it felt soft and spongy. And so the discovery of yet another area of wood rot begins. It never ends.

 25 Feb. 13

Yesterday I called my mother to see how they were doing. Halfway through the call she suddenly burst into tears and I don’t understand what is going on. So I wait till she calms down and ask her. She tells me I am leaving soon and she doesn’t know if she will ever see me again. I told her it doesn’t look like we will ever leave so she is worried for nothing. I also told her that if we do ever leave we won’t be gone forever and I will call her on Skype. She has no idea what Skype is so I try to explain. Eventually she calls my sisters eldest kid that has been living with her since my sister cannot look after her kids anymore. He also has no idea.

 I don’t know how to help my mother. She is getting old and has been left with the huge responsibility of looking after my sister’s three children. My sister is an addict and therefore no longer herself. Before we moved onto the boat I hardly spoke to my parents and usually tried to avoid any contact with my family members. If you ever met my brothers and sister you would understand why. But now that I finally have had the opportunity to get to know my mother again, I can’t help but worry about her.

 When I opened my e mail on Thursday it contained a scathing mail from Amy telling me that I am a bad father and don’t seem to care about my kids anymore. Her reasoning for this was that I had not bothered to contact her since she left on her gap year. At first I was mad with her for sending that mail, but then I calmed down and replied. In my reply I mentioned that she didn’t have a number, so how could I possibly contact her. I tried getting her new number from Keagan but he didn’t have it. Anyway to cut a long story short I finally managed to speak to Amy on the phone yesterday. She hasn’t managed to find any work in Scotland yet and is running out of money. So now I am worried about her too.

 

Bluff Beach in February