This morning did not go as planned. I intended to get up early, go on a run, get back, shower, head to the college house to work for a few hours before heading home. What actually happened was that I woke up exhausted, went back to bed for a few hours, work up crying, feeling like somebody had literally drained all of the energy out of the bottom of my feet along with any joy or happiness I’ve ever had… and wanted to hide from the world. Every time I closed my eyes to go back to sleep I’d be greeted with a memory of Mum which only made me cry more.

It’s days like this where I need baby steps. I check my phone and it has a million messages and it’s so overwhelming I can’t look at it. One text I could cope with, six that I haven’t responded to and it feels like too much and I can’t open the folder. I really do appreciate people texting me, and as soon as I’ve had a few deep breathes and can access it, I love reading through the messages, but that’s how difficult things feel at the moment.

I head to my iPad where things are broken up a little more and spend half an hour or so browsing through the internet, then tackled my phone and turned to getting out of bed. I decided a run wasn’t happening today, then decided that actually we should prioritise eating over getting dressed or leaving the house, for now. So once that particular task was tackled I settled at my desk to begin the day.

It’s now half one and I’m still not dressed, but I’m on top of my inbox, I’ve sorted out some banking stuff that’s been bugging me (I’ve been too scared to check my bank because I’ve paid out a lot of stuff lately and had no idea if I’d been paid back etc.), I’ve done a few other bits and bobs, and they’re all achievements on a day like today.

The next step will be getting dressed, opening the curtains and making my bed. Yesterday I tackled the clearing of the desk and the hoovering, so at least my room feels safe and calm for now. Then I’ll try and do some printing for my dissertation. Soon I need to head to town; I’ve got a shopping list from Mum and then I’ll be meeting someone who can give me a lift home where I’ll spend a few hours before heading back here again tonight.

It’s exhausting this dying Mum business, but I need to try and keep up some normality, and I need to be with my Mum, so at the moment this is how it is.