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Washing Lines and Weeds: Poignant, Profound Memoir Unravels Love, Life & Death

Writer's picture: Hinton MagazineHinton Magazine

C.A. Pritchard’s ‘Washing Lines and Weeds’ is an emotive, raw and hard-hitting memoir – chronicling the author’s life as two lovers finally come together, aligning life exactly as it should be, only for critical illness to strike. Pritchard’s husband fell urgently ill amid the early peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, sending her heart and mind into a spin of delirium, confusion and stone-cold fear. She now articulates this journey for readers, in a rare account of love and tragedy, that cuts to the core of what it means to be human.

While they didn’t get married until almost four decades after they met, C.A. Pritchard and her husband embody the perfect love story. Fate had thrown up luck, and they were finally together.

But as with all perfect stories, something tries to rip it away. Just five years after they married, Pritchard’s husband was in intensive care battling infective endocarditis. Even worse, it was all playing out as Coronavirus spiralled the world and the NHS into turmoil.

In ‘Washing Lines and Weeds’, Pritchard tells the entire story – frank and uninhibited. It’s a look at life’s many challenges, and a journey through the first six months of the pandemic.

Synopsis:

Love is...rekindling the embers of a long lost relationship. Love is...supporting each other through good times and bad. Love is...maintaining a bedside vigil as life starts to ebb. Love is....breathing for your partner, thinking for your partner and feeling their pain. Love is...yearning for the love of your life to survive, with every single fibre of your own being, and wishing that you could trade places.

Be-dum. Be-dum. Breathe. Who? Me?

Jamie and I were teenage sweethearts who went our separate ways but reignited our love some 35 years later. Now, only five years after the wedding we had waited a lifetime for, Jamie was ill, critically ill with infective endocarditis.

But don’t look it up on the internet!

I was willing him to live, removing the fence splinters from my backside to ditch my agnosticism and pray to a superior being to save the love of my life.

“The experience was absolutely terrifying,” explains the author. “It wasn’t like anything I’d ever tried to navigate in life, and I was shocked at how critical illness also deeply infects and affects the minds of those closest to the victim. I felt like I was living in a fog, and having to simultaneously deal with the pandemic – which was redefining every aspect of life as we knew it.”

Continuing, “I want readers to understand that life is a gift; a delicate one at that, which can be ripped away at any time, for any reason. Love is a privilege, too – and can also be torn apart without warning. I hope my story resonates with readers and inspires them to hug their loved ones a little tighter.”

Reviews have been extremely positive. P writes, “This is an account of the traumatic time that the author’s husband spent in intensive care. It is heartfelt and moving. I enjoyed the positivity of the author, who realises that family is the greatest blessing and her obvious love for her husband and family are a strong theme in this account.”

J adds, “A brilliantly written true life story. Once you start reading it’s impossible to put down. You feel every emotion of the author. Highly recommend reading this book, it will make you want to put your arms around everyone you love and care about.”

‘Washing Lines and Weeds’ is available now: https://amzn.to/3pmik6M.

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