"Make Each Day Count"

In the light of the bad, sad news from the psychiatrist, our 'Nicol Christmas Pickle' took on a whole new dimension. So, after we'd cried a bit and hugged a bit, and stared into space in shocked, stunned silence, we raised a glass with this toast: "Let's live our best life and make each day count!" Suddenly the lateness of our festive preparations paled by comparison: there was something much more important that needed to be dealt with - our best life.

Simple pleasures and our best life

Helping Euan make soup that afternoon seemed so much more important than writing the impossibly late Christmas cards. And anyway, how could we send them now without including the dreadful news - and how do you put that in a Christmas card? "Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2021 - let's hope it's a whole lot better than 2020 - oh, and by the way, Euan has Parkinson's dementia. Lots of love xxx"

No. It was Euan who very sensibly pointed this out, so the lovely cards remain unsent - you'll get them next year - and the stamps come with the added bonus that they've side-stepped the January price hike, so we're quids in for next Christmas and already well ahead of the 2021 festive game - hurrah!

Euan had a yen to make spiced butternut squash soup - what better way to spend a more than usually dark December afternoon?

Exercise is now a crucial part of our daily regime. The consultant said it is the single most important thing that will make a difference, so we are embracing it, with daily physio and regular outings to our wonderful beach. Only Euan could decide to take off at a run on his second outing with the chariot, a twinkle in his eye, recreating his own Parkinson's-fuelled version of Chariots of Fire.

Chariots of fire! Euan performs a perfect recreation on Ayr beach

That's my Boy: fun, playful, fearless, always close to his inner six-year-old. And long may that last. The joy on his face as he comes into that final turn, the satisfaction that radiates as the result of such a simple pleasure, it fills me up.

Euan also had the brilliant idea of taking his daily physio exercises out on tour, boot camp style. So, every so often, we stop the chariot and I put Euan through his paces, much to the amusement of passers-by!

Exercise is now a crucial part of making each day count

We also have plans for our new vegetable garden with its fantastic waist-high planters; we're going to explore some of the buggy-friendly routes on Gillian's Walks website; we will have more garden chimineas and patio picnics, when restrictions allow, and coffees and cake with local friends; we will also travel to meet friends for the day using the motorhome as a base, and further afield when allowed. And through it all, Euan will continue to do his beloved and amazing photography - maybe next year we might even organise an exhibition and raise funds for research into this blasted disease; we will certainly create a new photo gallery in the downstairs bathroom for guests to enjoy.

And through it all, Euan will continue to do his beloved and amazing photography

This is what we mean by living our best life. Doing simple things that are easily achieved brings the best returns for us. It's not about spending money or making grand plans with stress and pressure and costs and deadlines. It's about simply doing and being in a wholehearted way.

Doing and being in a simple, wholehearted way...

I notice that this post fits all the category boxes I've created so far - and that feels important. We're pulling out all the stops, ticking all the boxes, meeting this head on, in true 'Team Nicol' fashion making each day count. But we are not alone in this endeavour.

Friends and family

We are so lucky to have such amazing friends and family to care about us. The consultant described our situation as 'fragile' because we have no children and no family nearby or in a position to help on a regular basis. And yes, thanks to Mr P, I am tired, and yes, I haven't had an undisturbed night's sleep for over three years, and yes, I haven't had a day off from my round the clock caring role for well over a year, but I still feel lucky, blessed, even.

We are surrounded by folk who care

Euan and I have a great friendship and we are surrounded by wonderful friends and family, near and far, who support us in so many ways. Sally, our Good Fairy who is regularly here doing the things we can't manage, definitely keeps us on the rails in visible, practical ways, but so do those friends we see online or speak to on the phone or who swing by for a chat in the garden. The fact that it took us over a fortnight to work our way through telling folk about Euan's diagnosis says it all. We are surrounded by folk who care.

Friends and family: the air beneath our wings

All aboard!

We laugh every day; we love every day; some days we cry; some days we are unspeakably grumpy and scratchy. But we are in it to win it, determined to make each day count, and we are indescribably glad to have so many lovely friends and family, near and far, travelling by our side. Thank you for that. We feel your love, it wraps us round and it gives us the air beneath our wings that we so dearly need.