It is 4 years since the London bombings, a day which I will never forget as two of my friends were in the tragedy. One lived with severe injuries and one died on the bus bomb. My friend who died was a new mum, and her family was devastated. Her wonderful child will never know her mum – tragic.
The worst part was that her body was never found, I remember taking the call to say that they couldn’t say she had died – as no body – just that she was not alive.
A memorial has opened today and it is …read more

Just when I think I am coping with the pain
I see your photo as I get into our empty bed
Just when I think I am coping with the pain
I shout out your name not remembering your dead
Just when I think I cannot cope
You leave a comment that gives me hope
Just when I think I will not heal
I realise rolling emotions are just part of the deal

I watched the funeral of the reality TV star, Jade Goody today. Jade died of cervical cancer at the young age of 27. Jade loved being a star and I couldn’t help thinking the one person who would really love the day would be Jade herself….
It made me think how the one person who probably misses the funeral the most, is always the person we are saying goodbye to… It made me think how I would love to be truly at my own funeral. I would love to see the effect I had on peoples lives, I would love to …read more

Holiday periods are for me the worst time of the year. Worse than anniversaries, worse than birthdays. I think it is because the holiday season is too many one of the happiest family times, and the gap becomes even more evident than normal. Also all the traditions that you did together, come back to you…
I believe that the best way to cope with the holiday season is to prepare ahead of time. Here are some things that I do but would love you all to share how you prepare…maybe we can find a best practice?

I still buy presents for the …read more

I read this today on a BBC website, it is a poem by a 9 year old called Joshua Peters
Heaven is all around, Life in War 1914-1918
 Lying without motion on the ground
The lost ones have been found.
The dead have been crowned.
Heaven is all around.
Those soldiers fought in war
With the Devil at their doors.
Now without a sound,
Heaven is all around.
Don’t leave them there, for God’s sake,
End their loved ones ache.
Heaven is here.
How lovely that a nine year old can express such wonderful words on a war that happened almost a century ago.

Remarrying is something that we can often never imagine, so I wanted to share this story with you that I found in the New York Times called How We Got From Grief to Pancakes
She says that she had 2 thoughts
“I have two fears:
1. Of learning to be a family again.
2. Of becoming a widow again.“
The 2 page article talks you through how Patty Dann moves from being afraid to remove her dead husbands clothes from the closet to
“It is almost time for Michael to plant his spring garden. A button broke on the cuff of his shirt recently, …read more