“It’s the hottest day of the year,” dad used to say whenever he caught us with the gas fire on in summer. Whenever I say the words now, I hear him saying it.
I signed up for the Run For All Burnley 10K in November last year. I contemplated a ’30 in 30′ style list as I entered the final year of my 20s but when I could only list 5 or 6 things that I would realistically complete, I scrapped it. I settled on…
My parents separated when I was 10. We joined the statistic, we were a broken home.
But you know the great thing about that? You get two homes.
It wasn't all sunshine and roses straight away. When you're 10 years old you aren't going to just embrace the man that you believe stole your mum away from your happy home. It took time. The home had no foundations, we had to build those first.
It's been 19 years.…
Dear Doctor,
How many patients do you see in a day? What about a year? It’s been four years; you might not remember me, but I want you to know I will never forget you.
In September 2010, I came back from a holiday in Egypt with a little too much pool water in my left ear. I booked an 8:10am appointment to get it looked at before I went back to work. At 8:40am I lost patience, I was going to be late for work so I rescheduled…
Today is random acts of kindness day. But is an act of kindness ever really random? Are the acts of a friend bringing your favourite treat or sending a well timed text not the very opposite of random? Perhaps they have seemingly come out of the blue but are they not, in fact, consciously considered acts of kindness, and isn’t that what makes them all the more marvellous and meaningful?
Timehop can be a nightmare for…
"Hi dad"
"Are you ok?"
"Do you want me to tell Matthew?"
<<rewind>>
"I think you should sit down. Your dad's been rushed to hospital, he's got a brain tumour"
I phoned him straight away. I expected him to sound different. To be different. I was nervous as the phone started to ring. Is he ok? How is he coping with the news? Is he scared?
He sounded fine, like…
