Letter 20

23^rd April 2014

Dear Catherine,

Easter is over, the holiday seems to pass so quickly.  I am sitting in the small bedroom of my ‘new’ flat.  It is not really new as it was built in 1905 and it’s not new to me either as I have lived here for 7 months now.  But it is new in that I have renovated it almost completely, adding a bedroom & bathroom in the loft, I have extended the kitchen, put new fittings in the kitchen & bathroom and redecorated most of the remainder of rooms.  I moved into the small bedroom at the beginning as it is out of the way of the works I was having carried out; the only thing was that the boy who used live here smoked – disgusting, so before I moved in I had it stripped, cleaned and re-lined, so at least the room is clean.  The other bedroom on this floor would be your bedroom, if you wanted to live here.  It used be the main bedroom in the flat, until I added the one upstairs, which I will move into eventually.  I kind of enjoy living on my own, but that is only because I lived in a shared house for four and a half years, with my own bedroom, but sharing a kitchen & bathroom with four others.  Now I am here alone, sitting at my laptop writing to you, feeling a bit down I’m afraid to say.  There has been a big problem on the job I am working on – the planners have stopped work, because of a technicality in the status of the planning permission.  I had no idea there was a problem – neither did my boss, but I suspect I will be blamed for it, as it is going to cost the client quite a bit of money!  And I don’t want to lose my job yet as I still owe my builder money.  My plan was to work for another year to get me into the clear financially.  So I may fall short of that, which is why I am feeling low at the moment.  All will have changed by the time you get to read this and I hope you will get to read it. 

I wonder what subjects you have chosen for your As & A levels.  In fact I wonder what school you are attending and if you have any plans to go to university.  It is just weird not knowing my own dear daughter, that I loved so dearly and will always love.  The social worker I spoke to, said you wanted to be an architect, like me, when she spoke to you.  But that was a few years ago, so you may have changed your mind.  I bet you would do well at Architecture as it is a rewarding career.  Some may say it is not well paid, but it is creative and interesting.  I have worked in this profession for over 40 years.  I have never been out of work and I still enjoy it, which must be a good test.  Many others that I know can’t say that and just wait for the day when they will be able to retire.  Whatever you decide to do, I pray you will make a wise decision.  I would love to be able to give you advice about the future, based on my experience.  I wouldn’t try to influence your decisions, but if you were prepared to listen I am sure I would be able to give you good advice.

I usually play tennis on Wednesday evenings, but it is raining, maybe that is another reason for my poor humour.  Well tomorrow is another day, with the sun rising again to shed light on new experiences and hopefully a better situation for me at work.  And I hope the day is good to you as well.  And your future

With all my love for now,

dad  xxx                                                                           at home