I have known my mate Steve for getting on 40 years now, we met at the ice hockey and have remained good friends ever since, our lives have had much in common, one of the things that united us as Brothers in Arms well Losers in Arms really is that we both consider ourselves absolutely useless and up until this year for 50% of us, luckless with women. 2022 has been quite momentous for my best mate...
On the 24/1/22 I had to go to hospital for a CT colonoscopy i had refused point blank to have a camera shoved up my arsehole. I had convinced myself i had cancer. The 24th of Jan is always a sad time anyway as I am always reminded of a beautiful human being called Lynn who died on that date.
Anyway I had the procedure and though I wriggled and squirmed a bit it was ok and i was later given the all clear.
Now as it was January me and Steve were both still pretty miserable after yet another lonely Christmas for both of us. Steve had got himself a friend called Sally though who he had spent New Years Eve with, just as friends, though Steve often told me how much he thought of Sally he was convinced she had no'romantic' thoughts for him though, which i thought was understandable...both myself and Steve are what's known as 'nice' guys. Frustrated fella's cursed with spending most of our lives in the friends zone. Let me tell you it is really shit being a nice guy as the 2021 version of Steve would testify. So one night Steve was driving home along the North Bank cursing the mundane reality of his existence. Why is my life so boring he thought I never have anything exciting happen nothing really good nothing really bad just terminal dullness. Well somebody somewhere must have been listening.
I love numbers Steve was born on the 22 of Feb 22/02 and 2022 was going to be the year Steve got to experience extremes!
As I say on the morning of the 24th of Jan I had been in hospital little did I know that at the end of that same day Steve would find himself there too.
The next morning I got a phone call, bloody hell Steve's about early I thought as soon as he spoke i knew something was up ... "I am in hospital mate they think I have had a heart attack" Now this is a fella who had ridden 2000 miles on his push bike the year before, so I was a bit shocked, it was difficult to process, I didn't know what to say, what can you say? "Fucking hell mate" I said "Are you sure?"
Steve explained that he had woke up feeling terrible and had rang an ambulance and was now waiting for further tests. I have to be honest I thought he would be ok, I mistakenly thought it was more likely to be a panic attack brought on by stress.
As it turned out the doctors reckoned Steve had, had a heart attack maybe 10 years earlier, how he had been managing to do all those miles on his bike with a damaged ticker was a minor miracle.
So there was me thinking Steve would be out in a couple of days and he ended up being in hospital for around a week before being transferred to Papworth where he had heart surgery. Of course in the early part of 2022 covid restrictions meant Steve could not have any visitors and emotionally it was taking it's toll.
He had his son and me to talk to on the phone but it was clear he was finding it really tough the one bright spot for him was that Sally was also talking to him regularly, which was a blessing without her, he would have driven me mad i think. In times of great stress an attractive woman can give a bloke hope in a way mates can't.
Before Steve went for surgery and with the thought in his head that he might die in theatre Steve made a last call to Sally and blurted out that he loved her.
I know this because he did not die and was able to tell me what he had said later that day. Oh shit i thought nice guy rule no 4 never tell your female friends you love em! It rarely ends well.
So after what was probably around four weeks Steve went home he had a monitor set up in his bedroom so his heart could be constantly monitored by the specialists at Papworth he had been looked after very well but understandably he was depressed and struggling. I never told him at the time but it was emotionally tiring trying to help him through it. He was in a house on his own frightened and with very little motivation to carry on.
One particularly bad day when I was really worried I got in touch with one of Steve's hero's from ice hockey, Kenny McKie, who was absolutely brilliant and gave Steve a call, which proved to be a massive help at the time, it jolted Steve out of his cycle of depression, relieving some pressure, providing a bit of hope.
For Steve though something even better was on the horizon. Sally had been to visit him a couple of times Steve would tell me how much he loved her but would never tell her his true feelings, even though I pointed out he had right before he thought he was going to die, however for a few weeks nothing was said then one morning I got another phone call...right away I knew something had gone on.
"Sally has told me she loves me mate!" Well that is quite a turnaround for a bloke who a few weeks earlier had been moaning about nothing ever happening to him.
Dear reader I am sure you realise that confidentiality and my friendship with Steve and now Sally forbids me from retelling much of what Steve told me that morning but after both revealed their true feelings for one another Sally stayed the night and it became clear the surgeons at Papworth had done a good job with his heart!
From that point they were a couple Mr & Mrs B they are perfect for each other a match made pretty close to heaven as my best mate had to nearly die in order for them to get together. Personally I think she saved his life this year and he now has a brand new much improved one.
Steve's Dad died some years back. When his Dad was at school though he had a friend a little girl who whenever she got upset always went to Steve's Dad to look after her. The little girl grew up to be Sally's Mum.
Maybe that night when Steve was driving along the North Bank his Dad was looking over him. "I can help son but there is gonna have to be a bit of pain first."
So Steve went back to work on 24/10/22 after being off from 24/01/22 (I love the coincidences in numbers)
Mr and Mrs B are happily doing couply things going to garden centre's, visiting relatives, making plans for Xmas, visiting craft fairs where they forage for cakes and they are incredibly happy.
I am happy for them too and sometimes it is hard to be happy for other people when your own life feels like a bit of a fuck up but I am really happy for my friends The Browning's two people who seem genuinely made for each other.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS Steve and Sally
Have a Happy (and slightly more mundane 2023)
