Life Update - 2026

 

On the 22nd June 2026, I lost my Dad. It was quick. It wasn't expected. He'd been admitted to hospital following a fall, and 10 days later he was gone.

Two days later, my Mum's cat went missing. We'd taken in all Mum's pets when she passed away in 2018, and on Thursday 2nd July, we found out she too had passed away.

Little I'm - Mum's Cat

Again, unexpected, a complete shock, and while we now know where she is, buried with my other two cats I've lost over the last couple of years, the feeling I've lost a part of my Mum all over again hurts.

On top of this, the house I've lived in since 2016 has been sold, and I need to move. I knew this was happening. I was told before Dad was taken to hospital, but on top of everything that's happened over the last month, it's an added stress.

I've reached a point in my life where nothing is certain. I no longer have parents in this world, the world itself is insane right now, but, and it's a big but, I feel free.

Free to do something I've been thinking about since 2016, maybe even earlier.

While losing my Dad is incredibly painful, it has been a tipping point, a kick up the backside to actually do things, to live, explore, and be brave.

Both my parents, in different ways, taught me something very important. Experiences are the key to life. Not expensive gifts. But travel, exploration, and seeing the world. They both had a have-a-go attitude to life; they didn't overthink things, they got an idea, and they did it.

I've also come to realise something else over the last few years, as my own dreams of exploring and having a life of experiences have been prodding at my head. I don't need all the things I have. Clearing out my Mum's house, I kept a lot of items that I knew she considered special. I have boxes of collections, things she bought new or hunted down at antique fairs. My Dad too was a big collector. While his collections now belong to my stepmum, I have received a box of plates he and my Mum collected together. They are a memory of a past home, one that no longer exists and hasn't existed since they divorced when I was 19. Separate lives. The plates are not expensive, they were hung on the wall of each house I remember as I was growing up. They were a further reminder of a past life, a life they lived, and trips around the antique shops where they collected them.

Do I need these things?

No. The memories are there, in my head and my heart. I can see them if I think about them. I don't need the physical items holding me to places I quite honestly don't want to be anymore.

Would I have come to this decision had my Dad still been here? - No.
Would I rather he was still with us? - Yes, absolutely.

They're both gone, and as the years have rolled on since Mum passed away, one by one I've lost two of her pets, three of my own, and I'm left with two fur babies. Mum's dog Lillie, and my dog Archie.

Lillie

Archie

So what now?

On Friday 3rd July, I collected Little I'm from the vets where she'd been taken. I brought her home, and after burying her, I sat down on the sofa, looking at the pictures of Dad, trying to decide which to send to the funeral directors for his order of service, when I had a realisation.

For years I've wanted to do something, but have never felt able to do it. My Mum's special things, my own special things, and now Dad's special things, have meant I needed somewhere to store them. The epiphany came when I realised they hadn't held on to things belonging to their parents. Apart from a few small items, these things I now have stored were theirs, things they'd collected, and I don't think for one moment they'd be mad at me for releasing myself of all this.

In fact, if they were still here now, they'd say, 'Get rid of it, love'.

So that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to free myself of the physical bindings. Allow someone else to love these items, allow myself to live how I want to live.

Over the next few months, following my Dad's funeral on the 9th July, I'll be letting things go, and making plans for my future.

Second Life will still be part of that future. I plan to buy a motorhome, work while travelling the UK, and visit the places I've only seen on documentaries. I love history, and places of magic. I have a list, and I'll be ticking it off.

This isn't a six-month plan, maybe not even a year plan. I'm not setting a timeframe. If I want to stay somewhere longer, I will. If I want to leave, I will. The dogs will be with me. I'll make sure we're safe, fed, and watered, but if I don't do this now, I know I'll regret it, and as I don't have any regrets about things I could have done for my parents, I did all I could for both of them while they were here, it would be a sad situation to be on my deathbed with regrets about myself, the life I could have lived.

While this blog will always be primarily about Second Life, I will be starting another blog about the experiences I have going forward in my First Life. When I have the details, I'll add them to this blog, and if you'd like to, you can follow this next chapter of my life.

Until then, much love to you all.

Casey
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Me and Dad