Sinks, Vaccines and Grandchildren

A couple of months ago puddles appeared in the cupboard under our kitchen sink. Cloths were put around pipes and under pipes to soak up dirty smelly water. We phoned Julian who fitted the sink. He came and inspected. ‘Your sink’s leaking,’ he said. We knew that. ‘I’ll send someone to fix it.’

Dave the plumber finally turned up yesterday. ‘It won’t move… I’ve brought the wrong part… another pipe needs replacing… let’s change everything… the cupboard shelf needs attention.’

Dave did a good job. We now have a smell-free, dry under-sink cupboard.

Yesterday I went for my RSV vaccine. The kind nurse chatted, stuck the needle in my arm and gave me a couple of leaflets. ‘Read all of this leaflet carefully before you receive this vaccine.’ Too late. ‘Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is an infectious disease of the airways and lungs.’

There were the usual warnings concerning my possible pregnancy-status or serious allergies. The repeated message was age-related: ‘RSV infection is most serious for… older people.’ ‘Older adults are more at risk of serious complications from RSV.’ And most intriguingly: ‘Younger people will be offered the vaccine when they reach 75 years of age.’ I’m guessing that’s when younger people become older people. I’m older.

This morning I read the words of Jesus: ‘For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.’

You put dirty smelly water down a sink and it will come out somewhere; hopefully not in your cupboard. You put a vaccine in your body and you stay healthy. Input affects output.

Twelve-year-old grandson-Luca came yesterday afternoon. We played games, discussed holidays, ate toad-in-the-hole. Luca is certainly developing his character and opinions. We can see the influences of his parents, his brother and sister, his friends, and occasionally, scarily, his grandparents. Our input has an effect on his output.