I can’t remember Father’s Day last year, I suspect I dismissed it as a hallmark holiday, a little grumble and moved on. This is my second Father’s Day since Dad died and I’ve been raging all week when I open my inbox!! Lots of really drossy, ill considered, spammy emails…earn extra [insert generic loyalty brand] […]
I watched a TED talk by Amanda Palmer last week, it was doing the rounds on facebook in one of those articles that is guaranteed to put me off! Enough people I respect commented or shared it for my interest to be peaked and I’m really glad I watched it. I would highly recommend the […]
18 months and a day, 78 weeks, 13 thousand one hundred and twenty eight hours, that’s how long it is since Dad died. There have been 547 sun sets and 547 sun rises since Dad left us. Well, true to form, this isn’t an easy calculation to make because technically speaking I think it should […]
Ding dong! Hello, this is your First Officer speaking, please return to your seats and fasten your seat-belts as soon as possible. As you are aware we have entered a period of turbulence, myself and your Captain today will do all we can to adjust our altitude to ensure a safe and pleasant journey for you. […]
Dear Libbie, Last month you turned four, and I’ve thought long and hard about whether to write this letter, the letter I wrote you last year proved really popular, so I was worried that I might not be able to live up to it, but in the end I decided there was nothing to lose […]
The more observant among you will have noticed I’ve been tweeting a bit about #JusticeforLB lately. I kind of figure that if you read this blog, or my tweets, you’re fairly used to me irritating you or over-sharing on things like death and dying. I know that’s not easy for everyone but as I’ve blogged […]
About two years ago I read a brilliant article Twitter by Post in which Giles Turnbull had taken twitter offline, replying in real time via the post. During 2012 I attempted to make more of an effort to send postcards, and I’m delighted that a few tweeps have been on the receiving end. I’m hoping […]
It’s twelve months, one year, 365 days since my Dad died. http://instagram.com/p/gunhbpiYTj/ It doesn’t feel real and yet I’ve developed a low level awareness that’s constantly there. It feels like yesterday but it also feels much longer than a year. If there is one thing that I can emphatically say I’ve learnt over the last […]
Fifty one weeks, four hours and about 15 minutes ago my Dad died. Bobby J let out his last breath, peacefully, at home very much knowing he was loved. I’ve written about his death before. My Dad’s life and death, have provided the lens through which I viewed my own life of late, and challenged […]
This is the view of the Rocky Mountains in Banff taken from Bow Falls yesterday. What has this got to do with Hospice Care Week? Everything. One of the objectives of Hospice Care Week is to raise people’s awareness of the work that hospices do. There are many myths and misconceptions about hospice care that […]