Whale is nothing like the Bear in character but he can be a bit annoying at times. Fortunately it is usually possible to see the funny side.

When Bear and I went to Lille we left before the nurse had been. It seems she wheeled Bear into the bathroom and left him there to finish off his toilette but he couldn't get out.

Jay and CC were upstairs and didn't hear him calling. Eventually Jay came down and rescued him but not before he'd done a fair bit of damage to the paintwork - not to mention his blood pressure.

Whale seems to live a rather blinkered life, in that he can never see whether or not it's a good time to ask for things. For example my neighbour popped in and I was just in the middle of the 'four kiss greeting' when Whale called out urgently, 

"Before you do anything else, can you get me some milk please."

I assumed he had made some tea but run out of milk so I quickly got him a new bottle and proceeded to offer my neighbour a cup of coffee.

We had barely sat down when Whale called out again,

"Can I have some water in my kettle please."

Another annoying little habit of his is that he starts panicking if the ambulance looks like being late when he has an appointment.

"Do you think they need a reminder?" he says, several hours before they are due. When  it gets to half an hour before the pick-up he starts to get anxious and I have to try to calm him down. Fifteen minutes to go and he's all keyed up to phone them. If he gets the chance, he will grab the phone and charge off in his wheelchair into his bedroom. I'm sure that when he 'reminds' them, they keep him waiting on purpose.

All in all, though, he has made remarkable progress since coming to France. When we arrived he was completely dependent. After four years of physiotherapy he can now get in and out of bed and walk a little with the help of a walking frame. His right leg is still very weak and he leans over but it's a huge improvement for his quality of life.

He has accepted his disability with patience and is content to amuse himself reading, doing crosswords, writing or watching television but he does get fed up with being a virtual prisoner most of the time.

Unfortunately it is hard work getting him into the car to go out, but Jay tackles it when the weather is reasonable and Whale loves a change of scenery.

Whenever I find I'm becoming irritated by Whale's little foibles it helps to remind myself how hard I would find it if I were in his place.

If only Bear could do the same.