Last week I hurt my back. It started as a twinge, which graduated to a constant niggle, which culminated in me collapsing on the floor in pain as I tried to unpack the dishwasher. Clearly, housework is not good for you! I have spent the last few days either hobbling on crutches, crawling on the floor or lying flat on my back, with a heat pack wedged underneath me. The simplest tasks have become excruciatingly …
I know it is still November but we are always early to the Christmas Party at my house. My daughter Sophia has had her own Christmas tree up in her room since October and has been buying gifts all year. The Michael Buble Christmas album has been played repeatedly and we have also been serenaded by Perry Como on the record player. Sophia is a passionate ambassador for all things Christmas and the rest of …
‘Always, we begin again’ St Benedict I had been carefully nurturing my seedlings for weeks. It had become part of my early morning routine to go out and check on them, pull out any weeds, check for bugs, then water and fertilise, as necessary. They were perfectly positioned to get optimum sun and I took great delight in admiring them whilst I drank my morning cup of tea. The lettuce was finally big enough to …
I grew up in a family that was fractured and dysfunctional. My earliest memories are of my parents’ fighting. My father had a gambling addiction and both my parents struggled with drugs and alcohol. We never seemed to have any money. I remember my grandmother regularly giving my mother money to buy groceries. I became a surrogate mum to my younger brother as parenting was very low on the priority list for my mum and …
It’s 19 May, 2016. Tomorrow, I’ll be 50. And here I am, alone, sleeping on a mattress on the floor. I’m in the spare room of the house I own. Across the hallway in the master bedroom, my ex-husband and his fiancée are sleeping peacefully. In my bed. As I look up at the ceiling, I can’t wipe the smile off my face. I realise with every cell of my body that I’ve genuinely never …
