The Kindness of Strangers

My dad is an avid lifelong supporter and shareholder of Portsmouth Football Club and as our long time followers are aware my dad also has Alzheimer's

 The other day dad broke his favourite cereal bowl which he's had for years and got really upset, it was his much loved Portsmouth FC cereal bowl that he uses each morning to start his day

It may sound like such a small thing to get upset about, but to dad this cereal bowl holds so many of his precious memories about Portsmouth FC

With so many of dads memories disappearing as each week passes, this bowl was important to help keep his memories alive of of his favourite football club

As a surprise I went to order dad a new bowl off the Pompey website only to discover it was down for maintenance and to check back again soon. After a few hours the website was still down so I put out a plea on our local facebook freecycle group, asking if anybody had by any chance a Pompey cereal bowl they no longer used, I didn't really expect a response but thought there was no harm in asking, just in case 

A few hours later I received a lovely private message from a gentleman called Bill Leonard saying that he was friends with Andy Awford (who used to play for and manage Porstmouth FC) and would try to see if he could source a cereal bowl for my dad

Fast forward a few days, lots of messages backwards and forwards between Bill and I, somebody (Andy's wife I believe) driving to Fratton Park to collect the bowl and Bill arriving on my doorstep with a brand new cereal bowl for my dad along with a photo of Andy Awford holding it

So much effort had been put in to get this cereal bowl for my dad, which is such a small thing to most people, but to my dad is was such massive thing when he broke it, I can't believe the kindness of strangers who  went to so much trouble to make my dads day

Photo Description - A smiling Andy Awford standing outside in a garden holding the cereal bowl that he and his friend Bill Leonard kindly went out of their way to arrange and collect for my dad

The power of social media can be a wonderful thing and I couldn't wait to surprise dad with his new Portsmouth cereal bowl and the amazing story behind it

I'd not told my dad what was going on just in case nothing came of it, I thought they'd arrange to post the bowl to my dad, not go and collect it and then hand deliver it to myself

Off I went to Snappy Snaps to print off the photo of Andy and then to drive to my parents to surprise dad with his new cereal bowl so he could once more enjoy his breakfast from his favourite bowl

Dad was so happy when he saw that I had a new cereal bowl for him, dad was a little confused and overwhelmed at first by its journey and kept telling me that the Pompey souvenir shop isn't open at this time of year, being off season for football. This may sound strange, but dad has never owned a computer and has therefore never used the internet, so the concept of online shopping is something completely unknown to my dad

Photo Description- My dad a gentleman in his 80's standing in front of a wooden fence wearing a royal blue t-shirt and white shorts holding a blue and white cereal bowl carefully in both hands so that he doesn't drop it

What an exciting week we had with dad's cereal bowl adventures, I honestly feel so humbled that people we don't know should go to so much trouble to make my dads day

Dad is absolutely chuffed to bits that Andy and Bill did this for him, every day dad tells me the story of how he got his new cereal bowl which is an absolute joy to hear, especially as dads short term memory is so bad because of his Alzheimer's that he forgets recent events quite quickly which can be distressing, especially when he doesn't recognise me

In dads version of the ceral bowl story things do change slightly from day to day where he fills in the missing pieces in his memory, but the key point that remains strong is that Andy Awford (one of dads football heroes) got him his cereal bowl and always has him chuckling to himself that Andy should do such a lovely thing 

Photo Description- My dad a gentleman in his 80's sitting on his garden bench wearing a royal blue t-shirt with a big grin on his face and holding a blue and white cereal bowl with the Portsmouth FC emblem on the front

To top the week off and make it the best week ever, we were also given the news that dads esophageal cancer is finally in remission, although that piece of good news has hardly registered with dad, he's still talking about his cereal bowl's amazing journey

With everything that's happened since mums stroke in April 2021 and dads subsequent diagnosis of Alzheimer's and Esophageal cancer, dad has really struggled adjusting to life without mum being his rock

Having not seen either of my parents in over a year due to lockdown, plus  my own need to shield I was shocked by just how much my parents had changed and turned into the two strangers that now live in their house

Those 12 weeks when mum was in hospital were the absolute worst with no visits because of Covid restrictions, but especially so as I had to step in and turn dad's life upside down to get the house ready for mum's return, plus the realisation that something wasn't quite right with my dad

At first I thought was down to the stress of mum being unwell and me changing things around, moving anything would get dad upset and often I'd come back the next day to discover that everything I'd done had been put back as it was before

But thanks to Bill and Andy my dad is happy once more and much more like his old self again, we have things to talk about now even if it is all about football, something I know more about now than I ever did before

I just had to post another photo of my dad and how happy he is because I'm so happy that he's happy

Photo Description- My dad a gentleman in his 80's sitting on his garden bench wearing a royal blue t-shirt with a big grin on his face and holding a blue and white cereal bowl with the Portsmouth FC emblem on the front

What have you got to be thankful for this week?

Dawn xxx 

This Post is linked too

Brian's Thankful Thursday 

Eastside Cats Caturday

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