'People thinking about me during my coronavirus battle made me feel lucky'

I’ve never in my life felt more privileged to wake up in the morning. Weeks of lockdown have made me so much more appreciative of small things.

Hearing that 27,000 people have been lost, and so many more are suffering, make me grateful to be here. Being poorly in bed for the last week made me doubly so.

When you can’t do anything but lie in bed, your thoughts wander.

I lay there thinking I didn’t want to die on my own at night.

So when I woke in the morning and could see the sky, it was a wonderful feeling. These are things we sometimes take for granted.

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Britain is still battling coronavirus (PA)

My mum always used to say: “If you wake up, it doesn’t matter the weather, it’s a good day”. She’s right.

What does a bit of wind and rain matter when we’re here to see it and feel it? Our Robert is a hypochondriac. Every two minutes he’d call asking if I’d lost my sense of
smell, because he was terrified I had coronavirus symptoms.

I have some lemongrass soap in the bathroom for when guests come and I was forever sniffing it because he made me neurotic.

But I could still smell it – because what was making me poorly was a kidney infection and a stomach upset.

Val says she feels 'rich and lucky' (Collect Unknown)

I lost 15lbs in seven days because I couldn’t eat anything. I just wanted to sleep. But every time I dropped off, I’d get a call from our Robert: “How are you feeling now, Mum?”

Then I’d just be about to catch 40 winks and I’d have my eldest son Jonathan shouting through my letterbox to check on me.

After I’d answered all the texts from concerned friends and neighbours, I felt I’d earned a nap. And Robert would be back on the phone, at me constantly telling me to drink water.

I’m 72 years old and know how to look after myself. I told him I might as well get a hump on my back and turn into a camel.

Then he said: “I know you’re getting better now, Mum – you’re getting quite naggy.”

My mum’s words are often in my mind, maybe even more as I get older.

People had more time to pass on their wisdom then. Mum always said: “If you have an abundance of love, you are rich.” Being poorly and seeing how much people were thinking of me, made me feel very loved.

Now I’m better, I feel like the richest and luckiest woman in the world.