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Steve hadnt felt well since coming back from his holiday, he had a problem with his ears. He went to the Doctors and was found to have a severe infection in both ears, he was almost stone deaf. He was off work as he felt so ill.

I was ringing him from work one day to see how he was, as when I left home he was still in bed. The phone rang and rang, I was getting worried so I dashed home to check on him. When I opened the door the sound of the TV was deafening....pardon the pun.... I couldnt hear myself think. I went in the front room and there was Steve sitting on the sofa watching TV. I turned the TV down and had to really shout for him to hear me, he hadnt a clue the phone had been ringing. Goodness knows what the neighbours were thinking. If they had wanted to complain he wouldnt have heard them at the door.

Hopefully when the anti- biotics kicked in his hearing would improve, it was a worrying time. The Doctor thought he had probably got the infection from diving in the sea. A few days later the pain was much better but he was still deaf. He had some Spanish money to convert back to sterling so I took him to the bank. At that time you had to go upstairs to the department that dealt with Foreign money.

He did the transaction with me trying to convey to him what the teller was saying, it was like a comic strip and I couldnt stop laughing , which annoyed Steve. We were walking down the stairs when this booming voice of Steve`s was asking me what the problem was. Until then it was so quiet in the bank and because he couldnt hear he didnt realise he was shouting really loud. I was trying to tell him he was shouting but he just couldnt hear me, he was getting so annoyed then the penny dropped and we both ended up laughing. Talk about embarrassment. We did see the funny side of it eventually. Poor Steve.

Lesley and Jim had set the date for their wedding for 10th October at 10.00am. There was loads to do. A wedding outfit for her was the first thing, Lesley and I went to West Kensington, London we looked in loads of shops and ended up going to a shop called Hyper Hyper and she saw this amazing black suit, she tried it on and it fit perfectly with her blonde har and some black stilleto shoes she would look perfect. Some people might think it odd getting married in black but that was my daughter.

The next thing was to make an appointment to get her hair cut for the wedding, she was going to Alan`s in Berkeley Square, who she had been going to from about 14 yrs old. His Salon was now called `Wish'.

Jim`s best man was going to be a workmate from the Fire Service. Things were coming together they had bought the rings and sent out invites. Her Dad had a nice big Rover car so he was going to take them to the Registry Office and then on to the reception. He had also lent Dennis a suit otherwise he would have turned up in jeans. He wasnt one for dressing up. I just hoped he could stay off the drugs for one day.

Lesley made a lovely cake and iced it, is there no end to her talents. A buffet was being provided by Jim`s sister.

They were in the process of buying a three bedroomed house in Bletchley, Milton Keynes which they were thrilled about and fingers crossed it should be there`s just before the wedding.