Tommy and Maryanne Pilling A story of love, marriage, Covid, death, grief and… Elvis!
Tommy Pilling: from dancing away in the kitchen early December 2020 with Maryanne, his beloved wife of twenty-five years, to a trip to A&E the next day that led him to be admitted to hospital for pneumonia where he subsequently caught Covid, to passing in the early hours of 1 January 2021. Two months later, he would have had his first Covid vaccine. If only…
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by Denise Humberstone (UK, mum of three, blogger at troynize.com)
ommy was sixty-two years old, three months short of his sixty-third birthday, a birthday the whole world celebrated with him every year: 21 March, World Down Syndrome Day! Tommy’s childhood and early adulthood were not ones to reminisce about fondly. He’d grown up in an orphanage after both his parents died and then went into care. Tommy’s life changed dramatically though, when at thirty-two, he met and fell in love with Maryanne in the kitchen of their training centre. She was nineteen. The next thirty years would then more than make up for the past thirty: overflowing with love, family, parties and music! Elvis Presley was Tommy’s idol, and not a day passed that his music didn’t bounce off the kitchen walls that prompted joyful dance moves while cooking dinner! With help from Maryanne’s mother, Linda, and sister, Lindi, they had a lavish and memorable (although controversial) wedding day five years after they met and later moved into a flat together where they were able to enjoy all the things mainstream couples do: pubs, cinemas, parties, bowling, et cetera… Full story here: https://makingchromosomescount.co.uk/team/maryanne-and-tommy/ 50
makingchromosomescount.co.uk
Linda and Lindi lived nearby and were their full-time carers, loving them, facilitating their daily tasks, challenges and wishes, all from a distance they didn’t mind adjusting accordingly, invariably and gracefully. They were only too happy to organise their twentieth wedding anniversary as well. When the pandemic hit in March 2020, Linda and Lindi reacted immediately: They were not about to take any chances and made sure Tommy and Maryanne shielded while trying their best to keep their spirits up for the next eight months. And it worked. Until that necessary trip to A&E that would seal Tommy’s fate… Like so many others, they never had a chance to say goodbye. It must be said that Tommy was treated like royalty by the hospital staff right until the end, which reflected how much he and Maryanne were loved across the world before and after his passing: Cards never failed to pour in on their birthdays, thousands of cards were sent to them for Christmas 2020, and thousands more when Tommy passed. By early April, Maryanne had received her two vaccine injections. Both times were emotional, a reason to
in the COMMUNITY
