Live IT & Love IT

The more I deal with this ticking time bomb, the more I realise it is essential to keep raising awareness. Over 13 million people in the world suffer from it yet the reaction I get when I speak about it is one of “what is that?” and “well you don’t look ill”. Only my boys see me on the bad days. Time is so precious. Everyday, I spend 50-60% of my energy disguising the symptoms and fighting the disease so people don’t see its true effects. That only leaves between 40-50% of my energy to raise the boys, run the house, sort the finances, study, write and keep everything together. The hardest part of it is not knowing from one day to the next, what symptoms, what attacks, what the hell is going to happen. It is really a ticking time bomb. On a recent visit to the doctors, the doctor was talking to me and all I could think of was the old loony tunes cartoons (appropriate!) When they used to have one of those round black bombs lit and were running around with it and you knew it wa...

Enough is enough. Are we really regressing into the past world of segregation and inhumanity? I make no apology in saying that unless these attacks are directed at you, you do not personally know what it feels like.  My eldest son is mixed race. His Dad is British like me yet since Brexit, my son has suffered racism and a change in attitude towards him. I see it too when we are walking around the supermarket – the looks he gets, the disdain, the women who suddenly clutch their bags tighter, not to mention the under the breath comments.   It is repulsive and disgusting and legitimised by world leaders and politicians. He tells me how it makes him feel but I can't imagine it, just as he can't imagine how demoralising it is for me to be treated with contempt because I am female. I don't want tokenism, I want fairness and equality based upon my experience and hard work just as my son wants to be treated as the good, British citizen that he is. His patriotism is far str...

June 2018 sees me hitting my half a century! I may look it, but I don’t feel it… well some days I may!    If I think about it, it scares me because I still have so much to achieve. That’s what happens when you start late but better late than never. It drives me on even more to ensure I achieve my goals, be healthy and happy and make the boys proud of me. This year I am going to be kinder to myself. I have not had a break in fifteen years, so I am going to pursue some of my own interests while the boys are doing their thing. The first on the list is a trip to Bletchley Park. I am a little excited… NO… I am in giddy child mode! It’s been on my list to do for a long, long time. A good friend of mine, without them even knowing it, has really helped me to put the past to bed. No more looking backwards, only forwards. I am so grateful for their friendship and glad they are in my life. They inspire me to keep going. One thing I do suffer from is self-doubt. I had ...