Martha & Alfie

I took my daughter who has a learning disability to the doctors surgery this week. They do an annual check up to make sure she’s OK. She has Williams Syndrome, and that means there are lots of physical problems that can arise on top of the learning ones. We sat opposite Jane the nurse. Jane wanted to check Martha’s blood pressure and weight but Martha, unaware of the queue of people waiting in the waiting room, wanted to tell Jane about a dog called Alfie who she’d met in a Belgian beer bar in town 18 months ago.

“He loves me,” Martha announced to Jane the nurse. “He’s got a waggy tail that he waggles when he sees me in town. We’re like best friends.”

I noticed that Martha was continually moving and beaming from the sides of her face as she explained all of this to Jane, and I wondered if it was a bit like Martha tail wagging too. The thing that’s so lovely about all of this is that we got chatting to Alfie’s owners who are now friends in their own right. We’ve met up with them and gone walking down by Rudyard Lake. We’ve invited them (and Alfie) to Martha’s big birthday party later in the year, and we often see them in the bar in town and we chat about whatever it is gently putting the world to rights. Martha’s oblivious to all the chatter because she has a little friend called Alfie on her knee and she loves him to pieces. We left Jane the nurse with a big smile and an “All clear until next year.”

It's utterly freezing at the moment, so do bagsy a bargain on some brushed cotton PJs while the Winter Sale is still live. We’ve added some more to the 50% OFF selection so that we can make some space in the warehouse ahead of Spring. Have a look when you get chance.