15 Minute Post

Just enough to drink a lovely cup of coffee and type today's blog!
At 10 am I am taking Mrs Jones shopping. I was passing her house on Wednesday and with a worried face she called me in. Her husband had fallen in the kitchen. 
" I was going to phone you " she said but luckily for him she had rang for an ambulance and it was already on the way, so I tied the dogs to her fence and went in to help. 
FAST is the acronym to use with a suspected stroke (facial drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulties and time) and I suspected a small stroke after her husband stated he had slurred his words a minute or so earlier....luckily the paramedics arrived minutes later and seemed cheerful enough as they negotiated Winnie on the garden path.
She was blowing kisses at both as they squeezed past with their backpacks
Today, I promised to take her shopping as she didn't want to be gone from the village for the length of time the two buses take to go to town and back. 
Having no transport is a shitter when you are old and poorly.

I'll leave you a photograph my twin sister has been banding around on social media......it took me a while to realise that it wasn't her! 
See I havent changed much
I still remain very round and very pink to this day! 


58 comments:

  1. Aw! What a cute little boy... so what the hell happened in the next fifty five years?

    It used to be that rural bus services were so good that poorer people could easily get by without a car. How things have changed!

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  2. Still cute after all these years!

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  3. A bonny baby that you were! Glad you was on hand to help Mrs Jones. I bet she was too.

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  4. Nice of you to take the lady shopping! I do hope her husband is going to be alright.
    You were a darling baby, John.

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    1. Anonymous5:08 pm

      It seems the darling baby has grown up to be a darling man, too.

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  5. Did you manage to give him an aspirin immediately, no time or none available?.

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    1. I am hoping the paramedics did as soon as they arrived

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    2. Do they do this for a stroke? When my father had his, they were concerned lest it be a "bleeder" stroke, and wouldn't give him anything until they ran scans. I often wondered if some of his function could have been saved with a different approach.

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  6. Anonymous11:56 am

    Man, you look nice in a dress.

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  7. Hoping Mr Jones fares well, and glad you were there for both of them. Wish we had actual bus service where my mother lives.

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  8. I'd breathe a lot better if there was a John Gray in every village. Mr and Mrs Jones are fortunate you were there to add the reassurance of a professional presence until the paramedics arrived. I hope he's ok and recovers well.

    'Beware of the dog' has a whole new layer of meaning with Winnie, I bet she's reaching legendary status with the local delivery and tradesmen. xx

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  9. Very cute. Are you wearing a dress? X

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  10. Anonymous12:28 pm

    You know the way to a woman's heart, John, don't you? Show me a cute baby, not least this little John - oxytocin levels rising.

    U

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    1. love your oxytocin reference!

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  11. John, you were a cute baby and an even better adult. Thanks for helping Mrs Jones and her husband. I hope he'll be OK. xxx

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  12. Oh what a beautiful baby .... and you grew up to be such a lovely person :)

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  13. You were adorable. I hope your friend recovers quickly.

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  14. Well, you were indeed a cutie! I hope your neighbor's husband is fairly well and back home soon. Have a great weekend!

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  15. Oh. What a beautiful baby you were!
    I think my own children had curtains of that same material! I made them myself. You really needed to know that, didn't you?

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  16. That is a very sweet baby picture...so happy! I'd not realized you were a twin.

    Best wishes to Mr and Mrs Jones. It's a shame about decreasing local bus services. What a relief for Mrs Jones to have you able to take her to the market.

    Happy weekend.

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  17. You were a little doll baby! Sweetest face ever!

    I wish there was someone like you in my neighborhood too. You are always there with a lending hand for folks in need!

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  18. Did you give him aspirin?

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    1. They didn't have any but the paramedics would have administered it

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  19. You're still a cutie pie, John and you grew into a wonderful man and an upstanding and caring human being!

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  20. you were a beautiful baby, and are a good man. stories of paramedics make me think of my son, a newly minted EMT. i hope mrs jones's husband is ok.

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  21. I can just see you squealing with tickled delight when someone plays 'This little piggy went to market.....' with your tootsy-wootsies. (Maybe the Prof still does it to you).

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  22. So wonderful you were there for them John. If nothing else i'm sure having you there made them feel better until the paramedics arrived... for her to not feel alone during that scary time meant alot i'm sure.

    For years i worked at a home improvement store... one of those big box stores...Well on the way to the break room you had to go thru plumbing. The plumbing guy was a nice older man.. i'd say in his 60's at least... well one morning i was on the way to the breakroom and said my usual 'Good Morning ' to him and his voice sounded funny... like he was slurring his words....so i slowed and got a look at his face and the whole one side was lower than the other... I didn't want to scare him.. as he was just going about his business of straightening the shelves...But as i walked away i pulled out my phone and called management and told them what i suspected and management came and led him to the breakroom and called an ambulance... I don't know when the stroke happened or how many other people saw him that morning and did nothing i don't know.. But from what i always understood was with a stroke you are on a time crunch... Theres a medication they can give you... not an aspirin... but something else that greatly reduces the effects of the stroke but you have to take it within 3 hours i believe... John maybe you know the name of it... Anyway ... happy ending.. he got the medication.. recovered quite well.. came back to work for a little while and thanked me over and over and over again for saying something... He soon retired and went to live several more years enjoying his wife and grand kids... If you suspect something , say something...Hugs! deb

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  23. I wish you were our neighbor! Not that our neighbors are bad. On one side is crazy cat lady who says she's disabled but talks alot about having under the table jobs but never seems to go to work at them. She has two cats which she throws outside in the early morning and leaves there unattended, without food and water, all day. Sometimes, she leaves them out all night, too, because "I can't catch them" she says. Small wonder they run from her. We now feed them, we now brush them, we now buy them flea collars, we do not like them pooping in our gardens so maybe a litter box will be next. I've started placing wooden dowels into the ground so they can't assume the position. The kittahs apparently don't use the litter box she keeps for them in her basement because she doesn't like to clean it. Ughhhhhhh Husbear won't let me bring them in our house because of concern over fleas and ticks, but I let the orange tabby (Butterball) come in once in a while for reconnaissance. Soon, we'll be setting up blankets in the front garage for them, I suppose. She's consistent, though. She didn't treat her son much differently. On the other side was a late 80's retired school teacher whom we loved. She eventually moved down the street to live with her daughter to let her granddaughter and current male companion and 3 kids with different baby Daddies live there. We came home one day a couple weeks ago to find survey stakes stuck along the boundary. Looks like the retired teacher will be moving back after a new modular home is placed behind her old house where she will live with her daughter, behind the house where the granddaughter and current male companion and kids by different baby Daddies live now. I can't wait to see how they're going to drag a modular home across the properties without infringing on and damaging our lawn and side gardens, which going by the survey stakes are barely on our property now. What I was leading up to was that I drop off plates of food, pineapple squares, candy etc. because well, I don't know, I guess we're good neighbors, too. It's just the right way to be.

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  24. When there were three pregnant ladies on our street I seriously thought about keeping a delivery pack at my house-they all, at different times, said happily and confidently they knew they could call on me in an emergency-great for their peace of mind-not so much for me.

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  25. Glad you could help your neighbour, I hope the husband will be alright and that your and the paramedics help will mean that he got treatment for the stroke quickly.

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  26. As usual John - you are the Good Samaritan.
    How cuddly you are in that photo (and you havem't changed at all!)

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  27. Best wishes to Mr Jones.

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  28. You are such a great neighbor and I now they all appreciate you...and of course, Winnie! Enjoy your weekend.

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  29. How lucky you were passing John - your presence must have been so reassuring. Trust Winnie - sometimes she has no sense of occasion at all !
    What a bonny little chap you were - as everyone has said - you really haven't changed much at all !

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  30. Just comparing your baby picture to the wedding photo on the sidebar, it's easy to see the man you would become. I'm glad for the neighbours that you were passing by just then. It's frightening to have a medical crisis and feel all alone with it.

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  31. Ooh, you haven't changed a bit, ha ha.

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  32. Adorable ! Just look at your cheeks.

    cheers, parsnip

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  33. So cute! Look at those cheeks.

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  34. What a little cutie pie! And you still are!

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  35. Thank you for being you. Round, pink, and these days supportive to the core.

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  36. I like a man in a frock. Hope Mr Jones makes a full recovery.

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  37. Seen all your pink cheeks on this blog now!

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  38. John Gray what is that doll doing to the teddy bear on thw window ledge !!! xx

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    1. I shared a bedroom with my twin sister

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    2. Oh, so she had an early interest in 'kink'. ;-)

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  39. You were the cutest baby John. Best wishes to Mr and Mrs Jones, glad you are there to help old, without transport I can't imagine I hope I don't get to that stage.

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  40. A good neighbor and a cute baby. Not too shabby.

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  41. What a huge relief it must have been for Mrs Jones to have you there John. And what a happy, bonny baby you were - it is definitely consistent with the blogger I've got to appreciate.

    Your blog made me think about the people who need help in very practical ways - small effort from me, but a big difference to their lives.

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  42. I recognized you right off!

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  43. Adorable "little" you were . . .
    and STILL . . .
    Good neighbor . . . let us know how he is please!

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  44. What a beautiful baby you were, those rosy English cheeks, and I can see from your smile, you were a happy little baby. My mum used to dress my brother in Romper Suits, they used to snap close underneath, and always lovely little material, babies were dressed like babies back then, nowadays they look like miniature versions of adults.
    BTW, I think you look a lot like gorgeous Prince George, and you grew up, to be just as gorgeous.
    ~Jo

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  45. About the Romper suit .. my son was pretty. Well, not pretty ... he was beautiful. Long eyelashes , big green eyes and long hair that curled at the ends .. He was constantly referred to by strangers as a beautiful little girl. Until he was old enough to say I Am A Boy !!
    He is a man now.
    He wears his hair long .. and it still curls the way any girl would envy. But the skimpy *hipster* beard prevents anyone from telling him what a pretty girl he is :)

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  46. Still cute all these years later ... and now you're handy to have around in an emergency too.

    I bet she was so pleased to see you when she did. And the ambulance guys no doubt made Winnie's day too 😉

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  47. And you remain adorable and as sweet and lovable as can be (most of the time).

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