TUESDAY 6th APRIL
It's only when you experience something that is as it should be that you become truly aware of how wrong things have always been previously.
Tuesday was the day NNF and I drove down to Dorset. Was humming and harring about the wisdom of leaving the security of home re bad leg, daughter and turbulence with boyfriend/non boyfriend, both combined with the regular anxiety attached to leaving the familiar domain just in case something cataclysmic should happen and I would be on the equivalent of the dark side of the moon and therefore uncontactable. Anyway NNF assured all would be well and if it wasn't then we would simply drive the two hours home straightaway.
So Dorset it was.
NNF had decided to surprise me with both location and destination and so it was we drove down the M3 in glorious sunshine and I had the privilege of being a passenger who watched England's beautiful landscape change almost imperceptibly into the divine, rolling, patchwork west country and the sea.
We arrived at our bolt hole and was completely ill prepared for the enchanting spectacle of the restored former Benedictine Monastry which was to be our home for the time away.
It was quite simply exquisite. Ancient sandstone buildings huddled around a lake with vivid green fields as far as the eye could see all leading down to the golden beach and turquoise sea in the near distance. Ruined arches were all that remained of some parts of the priory as what Henry had failed to do Cromwell had subsequently succeeded in achieving.
The hostess explained that the house we stayed in was the former dormitory for the monks and our bathroom was the old contemplation room where the clerics would give thanks for sustenance received after a meal.
And it was utterly adorable.
We drove to Weymouth in the evening, rang friends and family and gave out land-line numbers in case of an emergency, and then had something to eat beside the harbour. We talked about C and could it really be that the end of the tour was so near and so possibly tangible. And my NNF said it was possibly just so.
When we arrived back we walked around the old church in the darkness and I silently said a prayer in hope and thanks.
No Wifi or mobile signal where we were so hence the retrospection.
WEDNESDAY 7th APRIL
A dear friend told me that she and her son had both received written letters from C. He couldn't believe the six months was nearly up and apparently was contemplating what a profound experience the whole tour had been. Seemingly he said it was life altering.
Please God he will come home.
Spent the day being pampered by the kindness and affection of NNF and we visited the ancient Chapel of St Catherine, which all Benedictine's traditionally have as a hermitage, and said yet another prayer that all could be well.
Then we drove along the sparkling coast which owing to the fabulous weather had the appearance of the Mediterranean and stopped at a town to visit a farmer's market when nearly had a cardiac arrest for there on the pavement in front of us was my line manager. We hugged in disbelief and chatted about how captivating the area was and then wished each other well and in a state of awe at the coincidence NNF and I drove to Lyme Regis.
Sat by the sea in silence watching and listening to the waves rolling in when finally it was time to drive back to our medieval nest and dinner.
Said more prayers and actually slept really well for once.
THURSDAY 8th APRIL
Time to leave our idyll.
Drove along the coast and stopped off at a beautiful cliff top where years ago I'd looked out at the crashing wild free ocean in such a state of misery that I'd wanted to become the momentous water myself.
I stood on exactly the same spot but this time in a state of hope that maybe this hideous episode of war with all its tentacles of wretchedness was actually nearing completion and was struck by how life was really a slalom strewn with obstacles and you can never really plan which way to turn until the moment prior to collision.
Please God it can end with my baby home.
Then heard from H and he said C was facebooking as he was no longer out in isolation but was at the FOB HQ for 3 Rifles, but still doing the dreaded foot patrols though.
H was at the Graduation ceremony of the course following his, and out of the blue he'd been given twenty minutes to prepare a presentation for the First Sea Lord. Told him 'you can do it babe', and he replied by asking since when did I call him 'babe'. He then let it drop that he'd won another prize on the Warfare course, met the Duke of Edinburgh and should be in the Times this weekend. At which precise moment the Harrier flew over our heads from the fly-past at Dartmouth and I thought how wonderful life is.
NNF and I meandered along the bewitching coast pulling in fish and chips and the odd steam train and finally arrived home at about eight o'clock.
R pleased to see us and am really counting the days down to the end now.
FRIDAY 9th APRIL
Tragically caught up with the news and another soldier has been killed may he RIP.
It just goes on and on.
Heard from fellow soldier's Mum, bless her and M, and she was concerned as I'd been so quiet and explained the difficulty re signal and was so touched by her concern. We all know how each other feels.
Spent the day shopping as H should be home just for tomorrow and it's his twenty-fifth birthday.
Where have those years gone.
Not heard from H. R chilling and out with friends. And no news from C.
Thank you to my kind new friend for showing me how life can be.
Thank you Lord and please keep us going.
Speak soon. A soldier's Mum x
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