Our days continue to be buried in things to do but we’re making progress.
On the insurance front we have ‘over-progressed’. No funds were received on Thursday so I let the insurer know asking them at the same time how much they’d sent. Being in Europe they came back that night saying they’d sent an amount over twice what I was expecting. This was a surprise. At some point this would have to be corrected but I thought it would be better to receive the money then figure out how much to send back. On Friday we received an amount somewhere between what we were expecting and what they said they’d sent. With cash in the bank I let the insurance company know I was now confused and put it back in their hands to explain. I have since started to make the final payments to the suppliers who’ve finished their work.
There’s still a few things being worked out with Dignity and the things we need to do to complete the sale keeping everyone as happy as possible. It’s a big moment for everyone. I remember back to our own moving aboard Dignity in 2008 and the stresses involved. What really stands out in my memory from those days was the unconditional support we received from folks around us. Our friends Jim and Anne on Bees Knees and Tom and Pat on Lone Star are strong in my memories. There’s a saying within the cruising community (and outside) that you simply pay it forward. I really hope we will have a chance of paying it forward, in a small way, to the buyers and get them started on their own dream.
This concept of paying it forward figures large in my mind at the moment. On such a vastly important matter, my life no less, we have received such unconditional support from those around us. There is no adequate way to ‘pay’ this back. I wonder how, perhaps, I can pay forward this gift.
On Friday I had a comprehensive blood test performed. It had been due on Monday but the hospital had agreed to bring it forward to Friday so we could know before the weekend if I was fit to travel to Brisbane next week. One of the possible complications was a collapse in my blood cell counts which was why I went through the harvest. It was really heartening that the hospital was not only willing to adjust the timetable to meet our needs but even put a 
priority on analyzing the blood simply to allow us to book our tickets. In the afternoon, one of the oncology doctors called me up and simply said, “Go and buy your tickets, everything looks good.” Flights are now booked and a car rented.
On Friday evening we went into Melbourne to meet our New Zealand friends, Lew and Tracey, who serious blog readers may recall us meeting early 2011 on the Otago Rail Trail. They’re over here on holiday and for Dr. Lew to attend a medical conference. They’re both very close to our hearts as, among other things, they also offered to help out when I first became ill.
We drove into Melbourne and walked around the South Bank for a while before heading to their hotel. We shared a couple of bottles of bubbly in their hotel room before going out into the city to eat. We ended up back in their room for tea and more chat and left after 11pm. It was really, really good to see them again and catch up with our lives. Good news is we’re meeting them again tomorrow.
On the way home Helen, being the DD for the night, had a first ever experience. She was breathalyzed. 
She also passed her test.
This morning we had the delight of going to see Roz, Sarah and Russ’s daughter, playing netball for her club. She scored three goals herself and, more importantly, really played a solid team game often passing the ball to others than taking more challenging shots herself. Her team won which made it all the better.
It was really special for us to be involved with the family in this way. Even if it was a bit chilly.
have you ever thought that all the support and help that you get is because of what you two “paid forward” in past years?
through all your ups and downs you both have really positive attitudes, and share your know how with others with no thought of reward, but just because you CAN do what others cant.
little things, like fixing a villagers remote control for them, (in fiji, if i remember correctly) and many other such instances have paid quite a lot into your bank for future withdrawals.
No. And I still don’t. When you “pay forward” you do it, as you say, because you CAN. It is, in essence, a very human thing to do. However we approach life, we tend to aggregate people around us of a similar mindset either through attraction and/or influence. Thus, for example, the untrustworthy are surrounded by the untrustworthy, haters by other haters and the positive by the positive. I call it a bonus that having lived the way I do, I have close friends I may never have met otherwise for whom I have great love and admiration.
But I also know I may be able to do more. I’ll never find out though if I don’t try. There is another thread going on in my life which, for a few reasons, I will not share in detail for a while. It relates to an incident in my life that occurred decades ago which for me had little to no consequence. There was a lost opportunity though largely a result of my lack of awareness which resulted in great pain for others which chills me now that I know about it. I have come into contact with one of the individuals involved who turned their pain into greater good for others. I am humbled. For my part I am involved in helping to close a barn door that was left open for far too long. But I am left suspecting there are a lot of barn doors open elsewhere which can be closed with a little help in the right direction. My mind churns.
everyone could do more steve, but if you dont think that you are “in credit” as it were, you are wrong.
a little throwaway comment i made not long after i started reading your blog comes to mind for me;
it went along these lines;
if this were anyone elses life i would probably be jealous to death and dislike you immensely,
or words to that effect.
having met you and helen as a family, and been welcomed in to two of your homes twice, maybe three times at most, over a period of about 6 or 7 years, more than 16 years ago(i met you a few more times, due to a week at Keele Uni.) i still retain a great affection for both of you.
other people i knew much better at that time i can barely remember their names.(including some family members!)
you two on the other hand stuck in my mind, i think for your generosity of spirit, hugely positive attitudes to life
and the fact that you then drank special brew without swearing at policemen and soiling your trousers in public.
(the last bit, may, be untrue, as i was not always with you when you drank special brew!)
you gave many of us a chance to see parts of the world that we never would, and to live a life that many of us could only dream about, following a lottery win or the death of a previously unknown rich relative, but in a way that did not engender envy ,
i think what came across most was that you felt it was a privilege to do all that, and not a right because you could afford it, and that you thought that the very least that you could do was to share it with us in a “look at what a fantastic place the world is” rather than a “look at me scuba diving in the middle of the pacific” kind of way, your enthusiasm shining through for even the long, boring night watches or the oncoming squalls.
your delight at new islands reached and new people met, (and new drinks drunk) lit up the blog.
i am not usually one to gush in praise, being a man of few words, verbally, normally a wink or little smile will convey a thousand words for me,
your above comment illustrates, to me anyway, why you are held in such high regard by those that have met you;
even in the midst of what must be the most terrifying ordeal you have faced so far, you are still concerned for others.
i know that when the time comes for me, and i have whichever of the life threateners that gets to me first, i will not have your calmness and dignity,(although i am sure there have probably been moments of sheer panic and “why me”) and nor, i am sure, will i be thinking about anyone else!
all i can do now, is wish you all the best for the future, and that the remainder of your treatment is as successful as it appears to have been up to now, and that you emerge fit and well and get on with the next leg of your life with helen and the kids, and your granddaughter, who i hope brings you as much joy as my latest one does to me.