Everything that starts with D ...

Dear Dad, When I was small you were always there for me. We lived in London in an old house, and you went off to work each morning to that big huge building and I waited eagerly for the time for you to come home again. I would watch the clock, even though I couldn't tell the time very well, I knew that the big hand would be at the top and the little hand should be on the 5. I didn't care about other time, that was the only time that mattered to me. What made you a special dad to me? There wasn't anything in particular that you did. If mum had said no to something, you didnt then say yes. If I ... more

Those Days... Six long Years ago now ( 2005 ) on the 4th, 5th and 6th of April, I was frantically chasing around trying to get a pair of tickets, which seemed so very, very important to me at the time, to see the Manic Street Preachers in Concert, who were playing at the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea, on Thursday the 7th of April, their only Welsh date on this Tour, all to no avail......eventually I gave up. Unknown to me, at the time, this was going to be a date that changed my life forever, and still haunts me to this very Day..... I drove past the venue, at about 9:30 am in the morning, and saw ... more

- Introduction - I decided to do this review after I came across an article online about the Harry Potter film star Daniel Radcliffe, who has recently said that he's been diagnosed with mild dyspraxia. This is something I can relate to, considering I was diagnosed with mild developmental dyspraxia myself, as a young child (I think it was when I was about 4 or 5 years old). Dyspraxia is different to dyslexia, although they sound similar, indeed people have often presumed that when I mention I have dyspraxia, I meant dyslexia but I have no problems with reading, or writing really (apart from the ... more

This is not fictional, it is a true account of what actually happened 9 years ago. My husband waited patiently while I did the test. I snapped the cap back on, and waited, keeping my fingers crossed. I leaned against the wall, closing my eyes. "Please, let it be positive. Please let it be positive" I begged, over and over again. I opened my eyes and looked at the little window. Then I did the test again. I opened the door slowly. "Well?" asked my husband, searching my face. I grinned. "You're going to be a daddy!" I squealed. We were so excited! We had waited nearly seven long years to have a ... more

THE PAIN THAT TIME NEVER HEALS… As I looked up from my keyboard, I realised what I had just written - lost at 25 weeks. It may not have been much, but it was a start - I had finally committed to written word what has been causing me so much pain over the last few months. It was admittedly to a complete stranger on Ciao, but it felt like a new beginning to me - a small healing in the pain that has consumed me for so long. Now I feel ready to talk about what happened almost a year ago. Perhaps getting this out in the open will help - who knows? I just hope that you don't get too bored and manage ... more