Let’s see, we drove from Doolin to Ballylickey in about 4 hours and this is where distances versus time is quite deceiving. We were in Limerick around 11:00am south on the N20 which is a nice-sized motorway. The total distance to our turn-off was about 105km, maybe 60 miles and it took us about two hours. The motorway narrows through villages with traffic here and there. Once off the main road the traveling was even slower through winding mountain roads until we emerged into Ballylickey.Raymond and Florence were in the kitchen when we arrived so we walked in, made ourselves at home and began the process of catching up on the past year.
Unfortunately Raymond has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and his memory is not what it used to be, though he did remember the two of us. My fear was having him wonder who we were and why we were staying in his house. He had none of that and within the hour Raymond was whisking us off to his studio to show us the works he’s completed and what he was working on now. In fact he painted a wonderful seascape which he allowed me to get on film!
Oh, wait… I had a woman, Judy, contact me through the Internet to find out more about a painting of Raymond’s that she purchased through a thrift store. We emailed quite a bit within two days, me receiving digital photos and a letter to bring to Ireland for Raymond. I decided to go one step further and get his reaction on video, knowing full well that he would give me a show for Judy and that he did. I began reading the letter and his eyes would open wide and he would give me one of his grins indicating the show was about to begin. Just as I came to the part asking about the name of the painting he paused, full-grin and slowly gave the name… “Oil” … “Painting” and that was the end of the letter and questions. Sorry Judy! That is when Raymond went back to his oil painting and the video taping continued.
