Category:John Kemp

John Kemp joined UK Merchant Navy at the age of sixteen. Ten years later, he reached the rank of Chief Officer on a tanker engaged in world-wide trading.

By this time, had had married a young Shirley and, having realised that a life at sea was not an ideal situation for bringing up a family, he gave up on sailoring and became an academic in a London college.

Shirley had suffered from meningitis in her teens but she made what appeared to be a complete recovery by her early twenties. It wasn’t until after the birth of their second son that she became epileptic. Thereafter, she fought a brave battle against a slow, but remorseless, deterioration in her health, mainly in terms of loss of memory and loss of coordination.

After more than twenty years, she finally succumbed to full-blown dementia and John took early retirement to become her full-time carer.

The following eight years, during which Shirley no longer recognised either John or her two sons, was a challenge. John coped by mentally stepping back from reality and trying to take a detached view of the sometimes bizarre happenings that made up their life. He recorded many of the more humorous happenings in letters to his GP when he wrote to her for repeat prescriptions, and these formed the basis for his book, Caring for Shirley. See also www.caringforshirley.co.uk.

Shirley, sadly, died in a NHS respite centre while John was taking a short break from caring. He is now happily re-married and enjoying a busy retirement.