Unintentional Poet

Grace was born six years ago today.  I still find her 'birthday' hard to face. I think about her (and the whole experience I had with her) a lot in December. It's hard not to. Last week the words of the very well known Psalm 23 popped into my head, followed by some thoughts about them, which I scribbled down. I haven't edited them much, so it's not polished writing - just my thoughts. Thank you to anyone who takes time to read my writing and think about her and remember her. It still means a lot. A Thought "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me." Psalm 23 This is that. This is what this week is - the valley of the shadow of death. This week, where everything that happened that week, six years ago is relived in High Definition in my mind. The build-up - the happy bit where I was the pregnant mum of a toddler, enjoying a fairly typical

Thought for the Week December 2015   I am occasionally asked to write a piece for the 'Thought for the Week' column in our local free paper.  Here is this month's attempt, for anyone who likes to read my stuff!   _______________________________________________________   For self-confessed Christmas lovers, the countdown to Christmas probably began around August, while the rest of us were uploading our holiday pictures to Facebook. Some people are truly Christmas-a-holics, in love with Christmas and all things traditionally associated with it.   But for some it is a harder time of year; for the elderly it can be lonely and quiet.   For anyone struggling with grief of any kind, it can be a time where incompatible opposites are in play – the desire to embrace the jollity of the season, coupled with a (sometimes more forceful) desire to hide in a room and only come out when it’s all over.   I write this from experience, facing the memory, each year, of