Love Is Not Always Enough
April 28, 2024 2 CommentsImage by freestocks on Unsplash 5 March 2023 Last night I saw “The Son”, which I knew would be a hard film. (** Spoiler Alerts ** Don’t read if you want to see the film **) I knew from the trailer that it was about teenage struggle – possibly linked to mental health issues related […]
Read MoreConversations Without Spaces Erase Entire Lives
April 28, 2024 3 CommentsMain image by Red Zeppelin on Unsplash 24 February 2023 I was invited for dinner at a friend’s house last night. Medjool was also invited and joined. We so rarely get invited out as a couple. His friends invite him out, and invariably he goes without me. My friends invite me out, but without inviting […]
Read MoreLet’s Talk About Death Over Dinner
April 28, 2024 8 CommentsPhoto by Nadia Valko on Unsplash 19 Feb 2023 A couple of weeks ago I hosted a dinner where the sole focus was to talk about all things Death and Dying. (And Grief, because, heck, it’s inseparable). I had come across the concept of this kind of dinner during the months after Mike died, and […]
Read MoreIt’s Not About the Roses
April 28, 2024 No CommentsImage by Yoksel on Unsplash 13 February 2022 It’s Valentine’s Day already in some parts of the world. I know that the date fills a number of my fellow widbuds with Horror. Or Grief. Or Sadness. Or Resentment. There’s such “noise” around Valentine’s day in (at least Anglophone) parts of the world – it’s one […]
Read MoreChoosing Life – A Love Letter to Julia from Paula
April 28, 2024 1 CommentPosted on 5th February 2023; received on 3rd November 2022 Photo of Paula and Julia by another school friend I wake up to a firm ray of sunlight bursting through my dormitory window on July 2nd, 2019. I can’t wait to finally see my family after what feels like years. Suddenly, an inexplicable feeling of […]
Read MoreWhat does hope look like for me now?
April 28, 2024 No CommentsStunning photo (*) by precious widbud Charlotte MacNaughton, near Yellowknife, Canada’s Northwest Territories (January 2023) 26 January 2023 Way back when, back in my life before, and soon after I had started up my business, Kaleidoscope Development, I wrote a blogpost on “Hope”. It was 21st April 2014. I actually called it, “Hope – Part […]
Read MoreViolent Dreams to Usher In the Year of the Rabbit
April 28, 2024 1 Comment22 January 2023 Image by Gary Bendig on Unsplash I have woken late this morning – almost 9 am – very late for me. But I have been drifting in and out of sleep for the past few hours – since before 6 am. I no longer remember what dream woke me before 6, but […]
Read MoreIn Praise of Love and Mountains
April 28, 2024 2 CommentsPhotos and Art by Véronique Balcerzak 15 January 2023 After Mike died, I made an effort, particularly at Christmastime, to ensure there was a gift from him, not only for each of the kids, but also for myself. The first year, it was soft toy teddys made from his t-shirts. I remember that we needed […]
Read MoreLearning to Shuck Oysters at 55
April 28, 2024 No CommentsMain image by Tommaso Cantelli on Unsplash 7 January 2022 I am a bit of an Omnivore, in that I eat everything, and always have done. I have never been a fussy eater, I have a great appetite (which I didn’t lose even when I had gastroenteritis, aged about 14), and I truly relish food. […]
Read MoreChannelling Christmas Spirits
April 28, 2024 1 CommentMain image by Rob Wicks on Unsplash. Other photos my own. 29 December 2022 Today is my first “me day” in a fat week. I have had eight continuous days, (mostly enjoyable, if also busy), of catering and making, shopping and cooking, organising and preparing, washing and folding, sweeping and wiping, loading and unloading, and […]
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