"Be strong, be brave and smile" (Jack Staveley, 2012)
I was struggling for a quote to start off this next post as it was hard to try to find the right one. Did I want a quote that was inspirational, one that was about strength or a life quote? I googled and I could not find 'the quote' that was fitting for this next section and then I opened the blue notebook that we used as a mini-diary in Kings and on the first page was the above message from Jack (our cousin) and I thought that was perfect. The blue book we had at Kings was just so whoever visited Lauren could just write down what had happened when they had been there or any messages for Lauren that we could look back on. Following the success of the operation we witnessed Lauren go from strength to strength and her interact more with visitors.
On the Monday following her operation (17th December) Dad & I travelled in convoy with Neil and Jack up to Kings so they could visit Lauren. Before we even set off for the journey I knew something comical was going to happen because to be fair this is Dad and Neil aka Dumb and Dumber. We was fine until we reached London and lost Neil at some traffic lights so we pulled over in a car park and waited for them. As they drove past you saw the look of realisation on Jacks face as they passed us! It was one of those moments when you can't help but laugh. Neil ended up going round the roundabout 5 times waiting for us to catch up. I felt guilty to be laughing as you do feel guilty to laugh when someone you love is not laughing but it reminded me of when we was younger and we all went on a family outing over to Margate and Dad thought it was funny to go round the roundabout loads of times and everyone else who was following us just went round and round as well. So back to Lauren, we arrived eventually with no more roundabout dramas and they got to see Lauren. Jack naturally got told of by the nurse for sitting on her bed (if anyone was going to cause trouble it would be him!) and Lauren remembered it had been his birthday not that long before the accident which was a good sign (especially as I was still concerned about her memory loss)!
Reading back through the blue book is quite funny. On the 18th December, Grandad and Sara-Jane visited and Grandad's note says "looking great, nice smile, must eat & drink more". Sara-Jane's message was more in depth, saying Lauren had physio today and they bent her knees up to get her legs moving but Lauren was in too much pain and she again "needs to eat & drink more". She also comments that she made Lauren laugh however hasn't stated how. Although I suspect that whatever happened wasn't very funny & Lauren probably laughed just to humour her! Lauren has since told Abi that one of the things she does remember from Kings is pretending to be asleep a lot of the time so she didn't have to speak to many people! Typical Lauren. The next day Lauren still wasn't eating and when Mum asked what she wanted she said a McDonalds. There was a McDonalds not too far from the hospital so I said to Lauren I would go down and get her one. Obviously like everything in life you think its closer than what it actually is and the quick two minutes down the road was more like 15minutes! I power walked down there and then ran pretty much the whole way back to the hospital- I must have looked like a fat kid who was too eager to eat their food- but I got back to the hospital with the food still warm. It was nice to see her eating food again, even if it was only a little bit but anything was better than nothing. She was fairly chatty after her big mac and was telling Mum that carole singers had come round the ward the day before singing hymns. She then gave us her rendition of "Oh come all ye faithful" which I'm sure will get her a stint on the X Factor once she's better! I don't know if it was the medication or she has found a new singing gene but over the next few days she continued to randomly start singing whether it be "Brown girl in the Ring" or "I want to be like you" from the Jungle Book with her monkey impression!
On the Thursday of that week it was Abi's birthday and off we went. At the time of the accident Abi was sunning herself in Mexico so was oblivious to what had happened. That post holiday euphoria soon ended when she was met at the airport. As children, Lauren, Abi and I were inseparable. We wasn't just cousin we were as close as sisters. As you grow up though you naturally grow apart and we wasn't as close as we had been. I asked Abi how she felt when she heard what had happened to Lauren and her response "broken, literally broken, hurt & just wanted to click her fingers and be at the hospital". It just makes you realise how important family is. We had our annual birthday grandchild photo as well for nan. Every birthday we have to get together and have a photo of the three of us and we asked Lauren if we could have one as it would make nan happy (although it made her cry!) and Lauren agreed. Our first photo which is a special one as to me as it documents the start of a new life, not just for Lauren but for everyone. The photo now takes pride of place on my shelf much to Lauren's disgust! Poor old Abi spent her birthday cleaning Lauren's nails and hands before painting them Christmas red! It got them talking about when Lauren had her operation on her ear when she was 15 (I think) and Abi stayed indoors with her the whole summer holidays, keeping her company, massaging her feet and painting her nails. Memories like that are just precious.
Lauren has always been, and always will be, someone who likes presents, whether it be a bag of cheesy doritos or a designer handbag so when I told her I had a present for her I saw the excitement in her eyes. Work had done a collection following the accident and wanted to get Lauren something to show everyone was sending their love to her and they decided to put the money towards an I-Pad. She has wanted one for ages so I knew she would be ecstatic to have one at last. It was wrapped and when she went to unwrap it she said "take a photo of me unwrapping it" a clear sign she was starting to get her personality back. When she saw it was an I-Pad she smiled the first real smile I had seen since the accident. Me and technology just do not mix but thankfully our geeky younger cousin Liam was there the same day I gave her the I-Pad. He was able to show her, and then me, how to use the I-pad and explain how to download films onto it. I was so scared of having to look after it and be in charge of downloading what she wanted on it incase I broke it! Thankfully though it survived its time with me and my first attempt at downloading went well with Harry Potter ready and waiting for when Lauren was able to watch it....
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