Rip - Sandra
I got some rubbish news yesterday.
My old flatmate Sandra has passed away.
Some weird quirk of fate but I only mentioned the refuge I went to on here recently. It normally housed mothers with their kids. But at the back up a very steep staircase with no landing at the top were two very small rooms right in the eves of the roof. If you stood on tiptoe or something you could just see the River Medway through the one velux window. The size, the stairs etc made them unusable for anyone with kids so they were used for women like me seeking refuge but no kids.
I had the room on the right Sandra the one on the left. We bonded straight away as the only ones not feeding or chasing kids about. We also both liked a drink in the several pubs in the local area. And boy could Sandra drink. She hated being around the kids. Her partner had stamped on her when she told him she was pregnant. She lost the baby. He was in the army so usual bullshit of local police saying military police had to deal with it. He got fined a weeks pay I think. Fucking disgraceful.
We both ended up on the same "business business admin" course at the local adult education place largely as something to do in the evenings and cheaper than the pubs.
We approached a local housing association and they allocated us a flat if we got jobs. I first worked in a coffee bar and she did food in one of the pubs. We were so chalk and cheese in many ways. Possibly only a friendship of convenience or circumstances but she was really good to me throughout those days.
Eventually she found another fella who she moved in with. Although so I didn't lose the flat the housing association only knew that when dear old Fran moved in with me and due to his probation needs we had to open up.
Throat cancer did for her. 52. She never did become a mum. She never did stop drinking. I saw her last some years ago while still in the flat. Bumped into her falling out of a pub near the station. I told her I was sober "You have to be fucking kidding me". That was the last thing she ever said to me and she swayed madly up the road.
RIP Sandra I hope you're reunited with your lost baby and you and Fran can have a long chat taking the piss out of me now.
My old flatmate Sandra has passed away.
Some weird quirk of fate but I only mentioned the refuge I went to on here recently. It normally housed mothers with their kids. But at the back up a very steep staircase with no landing at the top were two very small rooms right in the eves of the roof. If you stood on tiptoe or something you could just see the River Medway through the one velux window. The size, the stairs etc made them unusable for anyone with kids so they were used for women like me seeking refuge but no kids.
I had the room on the right Sandra the one on the left. We bonded straight away as the only ones not feeding or chasing kids about. We also both liked a drink in the several pubs in the local area. And boy could Sandra drink. She hated being around the kids. Her partner had stamped on her when she told him she was pregnant. She lost the baby. He was in the army so usual bullshit of local police saying military police had to deal with it. He got fined a weeks pay I think. Fucking disgraceful.
We both ended up on the same "business business admin" course at the local adult education place largely as something to do in the evenings and cheaper than the pubs.
We approached a local housing association and they allocated us a flat if we got jobs. I first worked in a coffee bar and she did food in one of the pubs. We were so chalk and cheese in many ways. Possibly only a friendship of convenience or circumstances but she was really good to me throughout those days.
Eventually she found another fella who she moved in with. Although so I didn't lose the flat the housing association only knew that when dear old Fran moved in with me and due to his probation needs we had to open up.
Throat cancer did for her. 52. She never did become a mum. She never did stop drinking. I saw her last some years ago while still in the flat. Bumped into her falling out of a pub near the station. I told her I was sober "You have to be fucking kidding me". That was the last thing she ever said to me and she swayed madly up the road.
RIP Sandra I hope you're reunited with your lost baby and you and Fran can have a long chat taking the piss out of me now.
