The wedding went well. The last people to get there were Ray and I as when I arrived to pick him up at the hospital he was still getting shaved. The bride’s limousine went round the block a couple of extra times and we were seated by the time she arrived. The whole day went well from then on.

There had been a lot of things happening the week before and I think we barely got through it all. All weddings have glitches but luckily they all happened before the ceremony so that was fine. The bad storms predicted for the day never eventuated and although there is thunder now as Sunday draws to a close Saturday was fine and sunny with just a little light cloud.

Shirley and family came late Friday afternoon and as Edie and Lucas had gone to her mother's we took Trevor out to dinner. It was a good move as he had been panicking all week and that day was no exception. Craig got alongside him in an understanding way and soon he was fine. It was a nice seafood buffet meal at one of our favourite restaurants so I ate my weight in seafood – I think I was a little tense too and having a night out helped to ease the tension for all of us.

First stop for me on Saturday was the hairdressers and some of you have seen the fancy hairdo on Facebook. Nothing feels as great as a “new do” and finally getting into that nice outfit that fits and looks great on. A quick cup of coffee and then it was off to pick up Ray. The nurses had him ready (except for the shave) and we were off. Unfortunately the traffic was very uncooperative and while it had taken us 25 minutes to get to the rehearsal it took us 40 minutes to get to the wedding itself.

There were about 80 people including lots of children at the wedding. Our daughter Shirley, who as a Salvation Army Captain is a minister of religion and therefore a licensed marriage celebrant, performed the ceremony. She was the first to cry and brought a chuckle to the congregation when she said: “You’d think I’d be used to this by now.” But it is not every day you get to marry a family member. Most people were impressed by the service and clapped in the right places.

Afterwards we had photos taken in the courtyard and round various spots and we are getting a disc of them as a wedding thank you. In the meantime you can see a few at:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.155946367816955.38005.109677512443841

as you can see Ray is in the wheelchair and looks good in the suit.

The family lunch went well. With nine children present there were some tears and tantrums but Ray was able to eat an omelet and some ice-cream for dessert and I had brought thickened drinks with me so he was fine. Won’t go into the BM difficulties but all in all a very successful day out, his first day out of the hospital since 13th June.

Today he was still in bed at 11am with no intention of getting out at all. He deserves a rest. I did remind him thought that that kind of thing does NOT happen once he is at home.

The nurses and nurses aides have been great the past week or so. Every day someone has come along with some handy hints for when he comes home. One of the cleaners told me the best place to buy continence aids. I think once they realised I was definitely going to bring Ray home they were then willing to share what they thought I needed to know. It is a pity people leave it so long to do that. I could have done with that advice earlier on.

Now Tuesday is the deadline for Ray coming home. I still have not finalized the arrangements for his care as I disputed the first lot of arrangements and I am hoping that all falls into place early next week.

In the meantime I just pray that I have the strength to look after Ray in the way he needs and deserves