Photo: UK Press EXCLUSIVE FOR THE NEW LEAF
Too late to the doctor!
This woman gave us so many romantic reading lessons and TV evenings. Rosamunde Pilcher (85) raised four children "casually" and from 2007 until his death in March 2009, she sacrificially nursed her husband Graham († 92). She often forgot to think about herself.
The new paper: Ms. Pilcher, is it true that you were threatening to go blind?
Rosamunde Pilcher: Yes. My eyesight got worse and worse with the cataract. I was afraid I could not drive anymore.
Why did you go to the doctor too late?
Rosamunde Pilcher: I had to take care of my husband. So I put everything behind me back. My world was getting grayer. In the end I could not even read anymore.
And then you finally got surgery?
Rosamunde Pilcher: Yes, luckily everything was done quickly. Here in town there is an eye specialist and an optician. Within a month, everything was over - and the health insurance has even paid everything (she laughs)!
Are your eyes restored now?
Rosamunde Pilcher: Absolutely, I can even drive without glasses and only need a small reading glasses.
Is everything else okay?
Rosamunde Pilcher: Well, I just survived a bad pneumonia. It was just awful.
You probably do not like doctors, right?
Rosamunde Pilcher: Not so much. But after a week of torture, I picked myself up and went to the doctor, had to be prescribed antibiotics. I do not like the stuff, but the lung is my weak spot ...
How do you manage after your husband's death?
Rosamunde Pilcher: It's been a little over a year and I'm glad to have survived that. The term "Year of Mourning" is an old-fashioned word, but it takes so much time to cope with the loss. Somehow you have to find your way around. I miss Graham.
Do you think about your husband every day?
Rosamunde Pilcher: Not aware. But my family and I often talk about him. At the farm of my son Robin, we set up a bank in memory of Graham. Exactly where he has always admired the view of the River Tay - "Papa's Bank"!
They were married 53 years. What do you advise women who become widow after so long a marriage?
Rosamunde Pilcher: To be honest: I do not know. It depends a lot on how the partner died.
