25th January 2018 - Off to Sweden

I got up early so I could catch the 7.08 train to Prague. I would give my own life to not be making this trip and for Anne to be okay.  But it’s the trip I have to make, and I’m grateful I’m in Europe and am able to make it.

I had no problem with the train, or getting the Airport Express to the Airport.  Everything went smoothly with the flight etc.  Picked up a 1 litre bottle of Becharovka for Thore and Margareta on the way through :)

At Arlanda - everything went equally as smoothly, Flybussarna to City Terminalen, train two stops to Slussen,  then had to catch a bus as the line is being upgraded, so bussed it to the next stop along the line.  Out at Saltsjöbaden and went to check maps - but the hotel was in plain sight (directly opposite) the train station.

Got checked in no problem and let everyone, including Margareta know that I’d arrived okay.

Margareta stopped by for a catch up which was really nice.  Lots of tears and lots of laughter.  In typical Margareta style - she didn’t want me sitting alone the night before the service.

We (obviously) talked a lot about Anne, which was hard.  I haven’t been able to really talk to anyone about Anne since I heard the news.  Marketa was a big help in being my sounding board, as I tried to work out if I should come or not...but she didn’t know Anne, so it’s not quite the same.  So I couldn’t really talk without crying, so I wasn’t much help at all really!  But it was good to catch up tonight a bit - who knows how tomorrow will go.

I learned a lot more with how Anne managed to go.  I’m still processing it to know if it was more than I needed to know or not - but I’m glad it was painless and she wasn’t alone.  They didn’t know she was going to choose then, and don’t know why she chose that day.  Maybe it was the day she was brave enough.  Maybe she wanted to go while I was nearby and could come along - though I don’t really think I factored into it really.  Maybe something else happened to tip the scales, I’m not sure.  I’m just grateful she went on her terms and not through one of her allergic reactions sending her into anaphylactic shock and dying in agony and scared.  There are details I know of that I won’t write here. But even her exit was very typical Anne and made me smile.

I wasn’t in the mood to sit in the restaurant and eat after that - but I’d brought some chocolate along, so that was my super nutritious dinner.  I was hoping to have a nice cup of tea - but there were no facilities in the room at all. A little disappointing!