IN MELBOURNE

Roger and I travelled to Melbourne by plane on Tuesday 16 August. Our lovely son Tim picked us up at the Airport. It was so good to see him again. He drove us to Glenda and Tom's place (we arrived around 9pm) so we could have a glimpse of our beautiful grandsons Edward and Nathan.

Friends in the same street as Glenda and Tom had offered their house for us to stay in as they were away for 6 days skiing. It was very convenient and meant I could head down the road to take Peach for a walk around 8am and then back to Roger as he was waking up. It worked well for a week.

We had a lovely family afternoon on Sunday and took some gorgeous photos of the family and the new additions! We enjoyed evenings with the kids and tried to spend as much time as possible with our beautiful little babies.

I had a lovely time in the city with Jocelyn on the first Friday and she had arranged a make up treat in the afternoon for us both. We visited our favourite French Pancake Cafe off Port Phillip Arcade.

Friends Simone and Brad offered their car for us to use whilst we were in Melbourne. This was a huge help for us and a good car for Roger to get in and out of. Also easy to put the wheelchair in that we were able to borrow through MND Melbourne (Thank you).

My darling sister Irene and husband George joined us in Melbourne on 21 August so that Irene could help me look after Roger for 10 days. We moved into a nice little furnished unit together on Tuesday 23 August. Roger and I stayed there for 2 weeks.

The kids had organized tickets for us to go and see LOVE NEVER DIES - a Wednesday matinee. Oh my goodness what a magnificent show! How brilliant is Andrew Lloyd Webber. We LOVED it. We had fantastic seats (thanks darling Glenda for organizing). Would love to see it again (is that being greedy?).

We didn't really get to catch up with any friends as Roger was unwell the whole time we were in Melbourne. But Roger was able to have a couple of beers with Tom on their back terrace (Roger loves 'beer o'clock'!!), and also for Father's Day Tom organized to take Roger to the Football at the MCG to see his beloved CATS - GEELONG - defeat Collingwood by 96 points. Although he wasn't well he did enjoy himself very much. Tom handled the wheelchair with aplomb and made sure Roger was looked after and enjoyed the experience.

We were able to have breakfast with Irene and George at one of my favourite cafe's which I try and visit each time I go to Melbourne - STONEHOUSE COTTAGE in Warrandyte. I just love it. Then we took a drive to Panton Hill and just happened to bump into friends Marcus and Barbara who were cleaning St Matthew's Church (Roger was minister there from 1988 - 1992). This was truly incredible.

Cheryl helped in the care of Roger when Irene and George went back to Perth. It was a huge relief for me to have her help, especially as Roger was so sick. I wanted to be able to spend as much time as possible with Glenda and our little treasures.

Tim and Amy flew off to the USA on Thurs 25 August for 3 weeks. We were able to catch up with them a couple of times.

Tom and Glenda had Edward and Nathan Dedicated at ONE, the Church they go to in Blackburn. It was a wonderful service of celebration and rather emotional for us all. We had such a nice morning tea after the service at Keith and Heather's (Tom's parents) in Blackburn. There were about 30 people at the morning tea. As it was Father's Day we headed to Glenda and Tom's around 4pm to open a bottle of champagne I had received for my 50th Birthday. And yes, it was still very, very nice!!

It was such a shame Roger was not well, as this will be his last visit to Melbourne and quite likely the last time he will see his precious little grandsons. By the way, Roger will be called Gramps and Glenda has really decided I will be called Nana! I'm okay with that!!

Father's Day 4 September 2011

Roger with Nathan and Keith (Tom's Dad) with Edward

Edward's first piano lesson