2007 - Getting out more and introducing Sharyl

My beautiful neice, Sharyl

Sharyl is my niece and she's 17 (she will be 18 in the autumn). When my sister lived in this area, so did Sharyl, of course. She was doing holiday jobs locally since she was 14. She started working for me at holiday periods and weekends a couple of years ago - just before my sister moved her family 50 miles away to a village in the middle of nowhere. Sharyl never adjusted to the move, and there was much less opportunity to get a part-time/holiday job near her mum's new home, so she started staying with Marie and me at weekends and during the school holidays. She gets on with Marie really well. Joseph and Orla (especially Orla) like her loads and she's become part of the family.

Orla surveys her world...
from as high up as she can get!

And now she has become a "safe" person for Marie - even though she doesn't drive. Thus, more freedom for me. This is a great boon because our children didn't ask to be born with an agoraphobic mum and I feel that it is important to have it affect them as little as possible. Although it would be better for both parents to take them out on exploratory trips and fun leisure trips, the fact that I can now take them most places I would like to is a great relief to me - and to Marie.











Joseph, Orla and I walked a couple of miles to get to the highest point in Somerset. (Okay, Orla spent some time being pushed in her pram...) No sign of habitation in sight - it's a wonderful feeling of freedom!














Joseph loves the steam engines which puff through our town, especially during the tourist season, on a 25-mile stretch of track.
















And the playgrounds are a constant source of entertainment and exercise (especially for me!).

2007 - Current Level of Agoraphobia

Marie cannot-

• Be alone at home at any time - except (new!!) for a few minutes while I go to the nearby convenience store. There must be a "safe" person in the building, where our home is, at all times. There must be either her car or mine parked outside. I must have my mobile phone with me - but (new!!) if I go into a building with a landline (e.g. a swimming pool), I don't have to have access to my mobile all the time (so I can go swimming)
  
• Walk outside our building except to get into a car
• Walk more than 2 metres (yards) from a car
• Go anywhere except by car, with a safe person
• Go into any large building - e.g. supermarkets, the doctors' surgery, hospital, office blocks

Marie can-

• Go almost anywhere by car with a "safe" person (except remote areas).
• Stay at home without me but with another "safe" person in the building, and (new) that safe person doesn't have to be a driver

Her OCD remains unchanged.


Marie's agoraphobia continually changes. When I look back over what she could and could not do in 1999, 2002 and 2003, I wonder what it is that affects Marie's condition... It will improve in some areas while simultaneously get worse in others. One area which started to improve towards the end of 2006, and continues to improve, is Marie's ability to stay at home without me. I can now go to the local Co-op in the evening if required. This is a first, since Marie and I got together. Also, during the day when I have staff working in the premises adjacent to our home, I can go to nearby towns while Marie stays at home. And at weekends, when Sharyl is here, I can take the kids out to the beach, the park, shopping, the swimming pool, etc.

Which leads conveniently to...introducing Sharyl.

2007 - A new nephew

Marie has 2 sisters. They are both older than she is, yet neither had any children...

...until this year.

Kim, the middle sister, who got married 3 years ago, gave birth to a lovely boy. Although the birth was by way of an emergency caesarian section, mother and baby were both fine within hours.

Due to her current level of agoraphobia, Marie was unable to visit her sister and new nephew in hospital. However, within a few days of the birth we drove to their home on the south coast of Dorset to see the baby - named Sachin after the Indian cricketer - and the proud parents.

A proud Gary with his firstborn son

Kim was very relaxed with her baby while her husband, Gary, beamed with pride non-stop.















Orla liked stroking his head
Our children were fascinated by the new arrival. Joseph enjoyed looking at Kim's c-section scar (actually, quite neat) and observing Sachin breast-feeding. Orla, who had been practising saying "Baby Sachin" for the previous few days, gently stroked his head and loudly voiced her delight whenever he opened his eyes.



Paternal me!


I got to nurse Sachin quite a lot and all the paternal feelings I got for each of my (7) children came flooding back.

Marie was content just to observe the proceedings and was relieved that her anxiety wasn't bothering her.











Looks good, even when asleep


A good time was had by all!