I was about eight when I realised I was never going to be a leading lady. For years I’d auditioned for school assemblies or plays and without fail Maria or Sam or Joanne got the main female part, and to add insult to injury nearly every time I was cast in the same role. I […]
I wrote yesterday about some of the initial responses that people have had to the news I’m shaving my head. They have ranged from intrigue through to a sort of allergy to the idea. I hesitate to call it contempt, but there is definitely a deep mistrust of it. I’ve pondered this over recent weeks […]
A couple of weeks ago I blogged about Life after Bobby: being remembered, where I reflected on Dad’s responses to the question of How would you like to be remembered? and offered some musing of my own. In this post I shared my plans to shave my head, to raise funds and awareness for charity: […]
Last week I had the absolute pleasure to attend #NCF2014, the annual conference of the National Care Forum. This year’s conference saw a room full of Chief Execs, Trustees and colleagues from care provider organisations debating the eternal question of how best to focus on Bringing Quality to Life. The conference opened with this film, made […]
This post is really a note to self and shared to gather input and feedback, partly because I fear the limitations of 140 on twitter may misrepresent me, and partly because I usually find that blogging something helps straighten my thoughts. I’m speaking at National Care Forum’s annual conference #NCF2014 this week and my session […]
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 […]
I wanted to write a post a day for Dying Matters week, about death and dying and life and grief and anything else that’s relevant really, but I’ll be honest I found yesterday quite an emotionally punishing day. Not sure why exactly, maybe it was because it was the half way point of a week dedicated […]
Last December my Mum had surgery, nothing too major but major enough to require an overnight in hospital (two as it turned out) and a couple months recuperation, including two and a bit weeks staying at mine. My Mum is, on the whole, very healthy but there have been a few causes for concern over the […]
Last night I had the absolute honour to attend the Dying Matters annual lecture at the Royal College of Physicians. The theme You Only Die Once: Kate Granger’s story. Kate sent me a DM asking if I’d like to come a couple months ago, and I can honestly say I wandered around with a grin […]
Today is the launch of Dying Matters awareness week, that is themed this year as #yodo You Only Die Once. A week long flurry of activity, awareness raising events, meet ups, socials, academic lectures, press coverage, everything and anything to draw people’s attention to death and dying, and the benefits of discussing your wishes with […]