‘I’m not sure I will remain in Spain’
Ron and Margaret Orchard were inseparable and did everything together, from horse racing and ice skating to football. After retirement, they travelled the world on cruises and in a camper van from their home in Spain.
Sadly, three years ago Ron, a fitness fanatic, was diagnosed with cancer of the appendix and died a year later, leaving Margaret absolutely heartbroken.
As she begins to rebuild her life, Margaret wants to encourage other people first to be vigilant for signs of cancer and second to be careful about selling up in the UK and moving abroad.
“Ron had an appendix scare many years ago and was hospitalised, but it settled. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened if he’d had that operation; you imagine all sorts of things when you have lost someone you love.
“I wish we’d pushed harder for a diagnosis when Ron first had problems. I’d urge anyone with any health concerns to be very forceful when asking for help.”
Margaret also wants to warn others about the possible consequences of giving up a UK home and moving abroad. She is now left with a house in Spain that Ron loved so much and no one to share it with. “I’m back in the UK because Ron’s mother became ill. I came back to look after her, which I did until she died,” says Margaret.
“I also need a hip replacement, so I’m staying here at present. My next dilemma is deciding if I can face living in Spain without Ron. I’ve seen so many people who have sold everything in the UK and retired to Spain only for one partner to die and the other to be left alone, unable to afford to return to the UK.”
Margaret says she’d advise anyone considering moving to Spain to rent, rather than buy, and to keep a base in the UK. “That way, if something goes wrong, you’ve got somewhere to come back to,” she says.
Margaret is currently staying in her late motherin-law’s home while she decides what to do with her life. She’s had moments when she’s felt life isn’t worth living without her beloved Ron, to whom she was married for 35 years, but she knows he would have
wanted her to carry on and enjoy life.
“It’s been a very tough three years,” says Margaret. “He died two years ago and a few months later, his mother became ill. Now that she has died, I’ve finally grieved for Ron and I’m just beginning to start a new way of life.
“It doesn’t get any easier after losing someone you love, you just learn to live with it. Ron was the most loving husband and he did everything for me. We loved travelling and I miss that. I’ve decided when I have a new hip that I will take a holiday – perhaps a cruise. I’ve got to make a new way of life for myself now. That’s what Ron would have wanted.”
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