A Hospital Christmas

A Hospital Christmas

I have always enjoyed Christmas. I know some people say the actual day doesn't live up to the anticipation, but I don't know about that; there is a lot to do, but if you get organised, and start nice and early, everything can be accomplished in good time, and I usually have a fairly relaxed day with the family.

One of the things I also love to do, is write letters. Because we lived in so many places, over the years I have "collected" friends - some have stayed closer than others, of course, but I have always enjoyed the challenge of keeping up with folks, and I am regarded by some people as a sort of "hub" -  "Tell Alexandra what we've been up to, " they say," and ask her to write to all the other people that we know, with our news."

And these are just the people I have got to know over the years!

Mum, on the other hand, does not write letters.  However, when she meets people, and gets friendly and chatting, over the fullness of time, she will say, "Oh, do give my daughter your address; she loves writing, and will keep in touch with you."

Needless to say, my list is now an extremely long one.  Apart from Christmas, if possible I make contact with people a few times a  year - Easter, and maybe in the summer as well. If I have been pressed for time, then Christmas is a wonderful season for catching up, and making amends for being a tardy correspondent. With the advent of e-mail, which is cheap - and quick! - I have been known to use it; but I still prefer a letter, or a card, chosen with care, dropping on the mat. Something that one has touched, and written on, always means more to me than a print out from the computer.

As Mum had been in hospital since 4 November, Christmas 2011 was proving to be a challenge. We visited Mum twice a day without fail, to take food to her and keep her cheerful. We never missed a single day (not for us the lines from Gilbert and Sullivan's aria for the Captain of HMS Pinafore.... "What, never?" "No, Never!" "What Never?" "Well, hardly ever!"), and the time had just flown.

I thought, if I could take in steaming dishes for dinner, then instead of just sitting with Mum and watching her eat,  I could also bring Christmas cards and writing paper with me. That year I wrote all the Christmas cards and most of the letters, sitting with Mum.  The nurses thought I was most industrious, but in fact it was quite a pleasure; it gave me a chance to talk to Mum about the people I was writing to and, at that stage, she could remember nearly everybody, and where they had featured in her life.

In the event, all the cards, letters and parcels were sent off in good time.

On Christmas Day,  I prepared the dinner for all the family; we ended up eating later in the day, but first we were at the hospital for Mum, with turkey, roast potatoes and all the vegetables she was fond of. I personally do not like brussels sprouts! but Mum and the rest of the family are keen on them, and it was quite easy to keep us all happy.

The Ward Manager had given us permission to bring in some instruments to provide musical entertainment for the patients, and it went down extremely well. We all donned Santa hats, wound tinsel in our hair and around our shoulders, and started off at the top of the central  aisle of the ward, working our way down past all the bays. I play the piano, but as a big instrument like that was clearly unavailable (a bit reminiscent of "..... I took my harp to a party - but nobody asked me to play!") we made do with acoustic guitars. We all sing; Wendy has a beautiful voice and can sing any descant you can think of. I love performing with Wendy; I stick to the melody and she adds the embellishments!

Patients and nurses joined in the carols, and we also performed some songs from the shows, a bit of country and western and threw in some music hall numbers for good measure.

Every patient on the ward had been given gifts from the hospital, which I thought was a lovely touch;  not everyone had visitors, but no-one was left out.  We also took a bumper box of crackers with us, and anyone who wanted to, or who could, shared a snap and a hat and a little novelty.

I have read that in earlier years, patients in hospital at Christmas would be treated to visits from consultants and senior medical staff, who would provide Christmas dinners and generally spend a lot of time on the wards.  I guess everything changes! but for us, this Christmas was fun, and certainly different from the ones we had celebrated up to then.