Gail gives a wonderful account of seeing her parents for the first time since lockdown.

Hi, it’s Gail.

My stomach is a little nervous and doing somersaults this morning. It could be the excitement of going to see my parents for the first time for months today. Or it could be nerves, who knows?

We have to travel around 50 miles to my parents’ house and I’ve definitely not been that far since the lockdown, so that’s going to be different. It’s the toilet breaks that worry me as I don’t know if there are any public conveniences open on our travels. I might just have to take a bucket with me. [She laughs]

Oh, I’ve just been distracted by the baby seagulls balancing precariously on the house and the roof opposite our house where there is a nest behind the chimney. You can just see the baby seagulls popping out behind the chimney stack and the mother gull is watching over them. They’re frightening me because when they start to come out of the nest they look like they’re going to roll down the rooftops. We have seen that happen in previous years and it’s so upsetting. I hope they’re okay. Oh, Mum’s just come back to feed them, so they’re okay now.

We set off for the little town called Nelson, which is a couple of miles from Burnley, in Lancashire, around 9:30 am. Hubby drives and we arrive around 10:25, so it’s about an hour and the journey wasn’t too bad. The roads were quiet so it was straight forward really and I didn’t need the toilet, which was a good thing. I wasn’t used to sitting in the car for an hour though, my legs didn’t want to move when we came to get out of the car, but there was Mum, she’d come to greet us at the garage door to show us through to the garden. So strange not being able to hug.

And then out pops my Dad from the kitchen and at a distance we touch forearms. My Dad said this is what footballers do, but I really wanted a hug from them both. I’ve got to thinking though, I’m so lucky that I’ve been able to visit them today and to see them both and make sure that they’re okay, so I am glad I visited. And also my Mum gave me some very useful items for my card-making, so that was a bonus. [She laughs]

No, it was so nice to actually see them both in person and not on a computer screen on FaceTime. We leave around lunchtime and we do make a quick stop to my daughter and her family. I’d put some sandwiches up in the cool box to take with us for lunch as all the pubs and cafes are still shut. So we ate our packed lunch in the garden, watching everyone from a distance. Watching the grandchildren play, again very strange. It just doesn’t seem right, it just doesn’t seem natural but it’s been so nice to see the people that we love. But I’m still missing the hugs.

It’s been a strange few days but now I’m going back home to my bubble to rest. I’m very tired, and feeling very drained from all the talking and the changes of leaving my bubble.

Thank you. Have a lovely day. Bye.