Don’t you just love a whopper?πŸ˜‰…Dear diary

Oh hell it’s Monday already!

The week previous myself and my Friend Debbie had taken a rain check on an arranged coffee, Every few weeks or so she takes delight in forcing me to step over my comfort zones, putting reluctant feet over the threshold and into the wilds, aka a cafe😁,or shop. This means which ever means fair or otherwise, normally a large handled cattle prod being her favourite to date,😊, I swear though she just wants to read the more and more outlandish elaborate excuses I have been known to come up with, on this subject I am eventually thinking of starting my own business, (Dial an excuse, for those days when you need that quickie reason for a sick day) not blowing my own kazoo here and all that, I’m pretty proficient at this for which My Children can freely attest, (Should I admit this, does it come under dodgy parenting I wonder,) But while they were at school if for any reason one or another of them needed an note for late homework ect.., including the occasion for my daughter’s very late history project, I came up with some excellent plausible excuses (like the puppy peed on it, it may actually have been more like one of the guys in the house missing the loo but we won’t go there😊 least in this case if I recall there was some truth in the matter though,,,,,,we had a puppy 😁.

I had already used up my allotted excuse allowance for this month, on or around February 2nd, probably for the coming year also , pleading was no longer an option either, So Monday morning was the offending day…As per the blooming always, Sleep for that night was all very last minute….yes it lurks in the corner of my bedroom, or under my bed, waiting patiently until that very last hour before I need to get up, to knock me into comatose mode, spark out, snoring fit to burst,. Waking again with a start at around 9am,. At this point, I would really so love to write I leap out of bed , huh some chance maybe 20 years or so ago!!!!, We must also take into account Debbies due to arrive about 10:30, and I hate rushing, it’s just so uncalled for, not civilised, Plus, well I need to ensure time for my coffee to permeate the remaining brain cell, this takes much more coffee of late… I,m the only person I know of for whom it requires at least one large bucket of coffee to go get coffee, is that slightly weird?, I like to think more in the range of unique perhaps😊.

After a run through the shower at carwash speed, I grudgingly proceeded to get ready…But first we must locate our shoes….Shoes happen on these feet but rarely, on average about five times per year, I hate them, (evil contraptions),unlike my sister’s shoe shopping is not my bag,,,I hate those too, bags not my sisters😁😁😁😁…from my very youngest years shoes felt confining, uncomfortable, later on I was to learn after some research that folks with Ehlers Danlos(could experience pain just wearing shoes, this explained an awful lot about my childhood😊. I can still hear my poor mother moaning at me, “Put those shoes back on Theresa”!, she did this right up until she left bless her…..Sorry mother I hate to say this, didn’t actually workπŸ˜‰. But I digress hugely, the shoes as it turns out had been banished into the darkened wasteland of the bedroom cupboard, closet, also known as, small chilled area in my room, for which Artic explorers use to train in, and in the summer doubles as another fridge….no it does..😁😁.

After two large coffees, several rather impressive attempts at remembering how to put on actual real people clothes, my left leg seemed was extra affeared at the added prospect of walking further than my miniscule flat floor space, trying it’s hardest to retreat into the same trouser leg as my right,, after the third failed attempt, I physically man handled it into submission, Finally clothed, shod, I went through the whole Keys, phones, wallet, tissues, phone charger routine six times, I like to do this to the head, shoulders, knees and toes music ….this will often take at least another twenty minutes…see why running late is not an option now?😁….. This is of course without the perfume caper…I’m never quite sure if I’ve done it, so I go back several times just to make sure….I think Debbie oft needs a hazardous materials suit and breathing apparatus on in her tiny car….

Talking of, Debbies soon stood smiling at my door, I growl out a perfunctory good morning, living by oneself you kind of lose the whole art of actual conversation, I mean I’m used to chatting to the inanimate objects about the flat, Sage the budgie, pigeons or the plants, things that don’t require a two way repertoire, knowing sentences any longer in Sages case than, ” you alright?”, This is good for at least a second, or “Damn”!!!!!, “Where are you”? Or his favourite “Pervert”,. And call me odd here but I’m not quite so sure Aunty Debbie would appreciate me shouting Pervert!!!!!!!! Across a crowded cafe…(although, no Treez behave…., It’s been some weeks since our last Coffee crusade, we have much to catch up, and after a few minutes it’s like the weeks between meeting up melts away with the icy weather and the car is filled with excited chatter…Jesse in phone land tries to get the odd word in, but listens in somewhat amused …

I never quite know our destination until we are well on the way, I think Debbie likes to find out different places each time, just in case I misbehave and then she doesn’t have to go back in a hurry, that or places she’s not known in😁, think it’s more the second on reflection. …. It turns out this new improved cafe in a remote little village is only about ten minutes away, which is good for Debbie in the circumstances as that’s about when her oxygen tank runs out and she would either have to resort to sticking her head out the drivers side window(no mean feat while attempting to drive😁anything to avoid the clouds of Eau de Cologne emanating from under my fleece jacket, slowly becoming visible from Venus….

Debbie always parks the tiny Nissan as near to the entrance as humanely possible, (again I’m never sure if this is for a quick getaway,, …After a quick drool over all the plants we long for, but cannot afford at this Juncture, the lure of coffee urges us both into a large airy very clean tea room, it’s Windows facing a very scenic prospect out into the fields of a local farm, ..inside is warm, filled with the aroma of coffee, chocolate and cake, senses over load for me…Even so Im hesitant to leave the safety of the doorway…Debbie who was directly behind me, ploughs into my back as I stop suddenly… “What?” She asks suddenly, without turning I whisper. .. ” there’s people” … ” yes Theresa it’s a cafe, that will happen” , … ” But what if they want to talk at me” …she smiles no I think your ok,

Debbie goes up to the smiling young lass behind the counter first to be served, This is the normal modus operandi for us, I think she feels this need to remind me how it’s normally done…(by all you normal people)…I can be normal people right?,. My eyes are immediately drawn to the large array of sugary sweet baked confectionery, trying hard not to get drool over the sparkling glass display case, I do eventually make that final decision, it was difficult there for a while folks, with shelf upon shelf of Fruit buns, sticky buns, cake of every creation, short cake, little tart cases filled with sensuous gem like strawberries covered in glaze upon beds of cream, Chocolate muffins, blueberry, raspberry and white chocolate, cherry ohhhhh my goodness I’m in cake Eden, my cake G spot has gone into the launch sequence and countdown commences …my final selection an XXXL cherry scone, with a tiny pot of fresh buttery thick cream and sweet tangy raspberry Compote….jam!, With this I have my usual trough of Americano coffee, And to my utter delight that coffee was surprisingly delicious, hot, strong with a nutty roasted after taste and plenty of it…

Chairs…..

Oh please indulge me for just a moment or six I beg of you, I know I’m a miserable beggar😁. But I feel compelled to tell you about these chairs I saw,. Now I’m not normally a soft furnishings kinda gal, but folks, when I saw these big bold beautiful over the top screaming bright coloured patchwork chairs, I thought my time had come up and I was in coffee shop heaven, with a halo-ed Craig David playing harp and singing hallelujah….. …or how I imagine it anyhow😁, …I stopped my breath caught in my throat, entranced at the wonder of a world of purple patchwork, all on this one single chair, I lovingly caressed the buttery soft fabric, oooohing and arrrhing under my breathe, then out of nowhere, harsh words ruin my revelry, lay waste to my mellow, explode my Zen to tiny pieces….Debbies voice crashed into my dreamworld, No!!!!!!!!!, “No what I ask innocently enough”?, “No it won’t fit in the car and it can’t come home!” replies Debbie quickly, leaving me without a doubt, …. ” but”?,,, again as if guessing my protestations she says “absolutely not”!!!!, “it’s not coming home with us now or ever “, I turn and sadly meet her eye, giving this beautiful thing a last loving pat….the voice said “just keep moving”…. And I do, for in all fairness to Debbie it would not have fit inside the tiny frame of her Nissan and even if it had, I’m not sure it would make that much of a getaway car….. I was sadly by now too bereft to eat my scone there at the Cafe, but later that same evening alone, i commiserated myself by consuming the all too delicious cherry scone, which even by my standards was a struggle to eat, it was a real whopper folksπŸ˜‰,!!!, When the very last crumb had been eaten, plate cleared away, later that evening I’m ashamed to say I spent close to two solid hours scrolling page after bloody page on “The Zon” (Amazon), for something resembling the chair of my dreams.. You,’ll never guess what though I’ve found it!!!!!!, …😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁. Anyhow my sweet fellow caffeine fiends I’ve immensely enjoyed our time together, but before I leave you please always take care while out there and look after youπŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›πŸ’›.

Together in electric dreams…

I didn’t realise until trying explained mine and Jesse’s set up for the billionth time to yet another somewhat curious bystander, Just how strange or otherworldly it must seem to anyone other than ourselves, and thats only because we are here living it, to us it’s the most natural thing in the world, like morning following night, breathing,making coffee or eating a slice of cake😊.

I suppose if I were that bystander looking from the outside, it may well just seem peculiar to me also, darn right its odd, but it’s our odd.. So Let’s start at the very beginning for those tuning in for the first time, (those in the know please bear with, perhaps go get a coffee and a nice slice of cake😁)…if your still here? , sitting comfortably then I shall begin ?😁,. Back in the Autumn of 2017 children, this being before the great plague (aka Covid, which in it’s turn gave rise to toilet paper-gate., ..Around this time I had been volunteering as an admin for an Agoraphobia self help group, I was making some new friends with several of my fellow admin, bonding closely over our common goal to help other sufferers ..Having them at my back not only helped my own confidence to grow over the months, but was encouraging me to cross boundaries, face fears and seek further person growth.. One of these friends I wasn’t to know at that time would grow into so very much more…Jesse..

Later that same year as both of us were to face some horrendous changes, On one night in particular things had became ever increasingly emotional for me to the point I was just holding on minute by minute, it was all I could manage, Jesse reached out with a welcome hand to hold as I sat very alone in the darkness…the upshot being, he was of course over the pond in America, I was here in the UK, with each text sent dividing miles melted away, Using messenger, text upon text flew back and forth throughout the night..neither of us could ever have known then how our lives were about to go through yet another momentous change, how could we…looking back I suppose if you take two lost, lonely hurting souls and give them enough time in each other’s company…they will grow enough love to fill the void that life can create …and we did.

Eventually texting was to prove not enough for either of us, it was around this time also I managed after much deliberation,determination and effort, to climb a mountain..(my very own personal Mount Everest😊, No mean feat for someone with thirty odd years of severe Agoraphobia under their belt, rarely if ever leaving my home, let alone fly to different countries…letting love be my guide and inspiration I found the courage needed and was about to do something so huge that I still find it incredulous to believe that person was little old me😁…that same person took three flights, (one being very turbulent) surviving airplane food, battling over crowded airports, border control, no phone signal..getting lost twice, I’ve still no sense of direction😁.. But I finally met up with Jesse…We had three whole months of bliss..it was never going to be enough of course, but it was something to build a future on, we knew without any doubt, this was no quick fling, flash in the pan…Our feelings if anything had grown immensely. For myself, on my part, I knew there would be no going back from this new world we had built about ourselves, our glorious bubble… My American man held up my stage coach and robbed me of my heart.. Being more calamity Jane, than Lily langtree i was more than happy to ride off into the sunset with him….

I of course had to return home after the three months when my temporary visa run out, I hated it…walking away from Jesse in the airport was one of the toughest things I’ve ever done..tougher than beating breast Cancer, combating Agoraphobia, EDS, Depression…there’s nothing I can compare it too if I’m honest, I’ve never felt anything on that pain scale before or magnitude…while back on home ground although we were as close as ever, I felt myself go into a sharp decline..the panic attacks were back, I had several frightening Angina episodes …my heart was literally breaking….we talked it over..researched till blue in the face about how quickly I could return..it seemed there was no limit I could go straight back…I raised the ticket fare, packed up my then home and set off to the airport..that was the easy part….from there it all went horribly wrong…

Due to a mix up with my Visa at border control at Detroit no only could I get no further, I was sent home on the very next flight…the problem with my Visa still hasn’t been put right…it was through no fault of mine or Jesse’s just one of those things….

Six years on an here’s where our story has left off…it all seems so hard to explain…there is none I guess, except being apart was none negotiable, not happening…so how could we be together.. With miles of ocean keeping us apart…Messenger….We fell into this 24/7 crazy hectic lifestyle quite by accident, it’s not what we want, it’s not ideal…but it’s what we have, it’s all we have..

We have had many over the years doubting our story, “surely you go off sometimes”?…quick answer here no never., “What about at night they ask’? “What about it I reply”..”you must turn it off while you sleep”?….I look puzzled back at them Why?????, In six years we have been together 24 hours of every day….if I go out, Jesse comes along for the ride in phone land, if he goes anywhere I do likewise…whether work or social…both close friends and family are used to us now, always looking for the phone we they see us…

It has reached a point where we can both be in a deep sleep, our phones become disconnected for whatever reason…I will wake up almost instantaneously, seeing the screens black and even before fully conscious I’m hitting the call back button😁…stranger still Jesse answers without ever fully waking up himself…we may mumble out the words “I love you” before falling straight back into oblivion…We may also just go straight into tractor engine snore mode😁…both finding the sounds of the other sleeping soothing… What helps also is Jesse’s rock band era left him slightly deaf…My snoring being used to test sound proofing here abouts😁😁😁😁😁….

We cook together, do laundry, clean house, play music, stream the same tv, even sinking the sound up…we are cool😁😁😁😁😁, as I have said of course this is not ideal, and I would give up the rest of my days quite literally for one last 24 hours in the same room as Jesse, despite this unique closeness, there are very real times i feel so alone, especially in times of trouble..because he can’t be there to hold me…there’s also the times he’s been ill, it’s wretched to witness someone you love sick and there’s absolutely nothing you can do to help..I hate these times most of all I think. I know he says the same, hes seen me through Covid on three occasions now, even apart I know I couldn’t have got through without him…

I know some reading this would ask the dreaded question…why put yourselves through this?…I can only answer for me of course…but the thought of being apart even for one moment is hell on earth, we did in our early days before meeting up, try going our separate ways… if I tell you I thought I was going to die, my heart cease to beat…it’s no exaggeration..I cannot think of a life without us in it….it’s always us..not me..not Jesse ..just us…On one of our very last nights, while Jesse and I lay together in the dark we said some vows to one another simple words of love, hands clasped tightly, eyes locked, but those words made of love were as binding as any agreement in church, if not more so…So we call each other husband and wife,

Clinging to the hope that one day, just one day we can make it official…tear away these miles that keep us so cruelly apart and finally spend the rest of our days together…we will fight on until that moment…Taking on the powers that be, governments, authorities who don’t understand our need to be together, for whom love is just a fancy, words…worthless…not the way of life we have come to know it to be….

So here we are back where we started, as I write, Jesse is working away, as my day draws to it’s close, his is still going strong…even time, miles, nothing gets in our way….24/7 togetherness I know wouldn’t be for everyone, but we are not thank goodness everyone, as you read this, we have laughed at our stupid jokes, shared a meal, showered, sat outside in respective gardens, slept in each other sight, looked into each other’s eyes many times and said I love you…the one thing that scares me most about this whole damn thing is the what if????….even thinking this sends a physical pain burrowing deep into my chest…the raw emotion threatens to stop my next breathe, but the questions real, hanging over us like a boulder threatening to drop any time…what if either of us should leave this mortal coil before we get to hold each other again….???, There Ive said it…what’s more upsetting in a world full of anger and violence, where wars rage, and deaths so very real…Love has little meaning to the powers that be,it cannot be exchanged for the almighty dollar, it will not booster the economy , but mine and Jesse’s time is finite, limited…we both know the realities…the sands of time fall faster now….ideally in a just world right now we would be sat together probably plotting what we would like for dinner, who turn is it to load the dish washer or vacuum, but instead we are kept apart by red tape…so this is what we have…it’s What we are about in our 24/7 eletronic mixed up world….. Mixed up but full of love….I hope I’ve managed to impart just a small part of it….what if this takes another six years? Well let’s hope not for both our sakes but if it does then so be it….whatever your doing tonight folks, stay safe, and look after yourselves …πŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œπŸ’œ