In the Old Testament part of the Bible, the Year of Jubilee was the 50th year. It was a special year when land and property (and even people) that had been sold could be redeemed and would be given back. Read about it in Leviticus 25: 8-54. It was a year for liberty and restoration. […]
The bedroom door creaks and Wendy comes in with a cup of hot tea in each hand. The tinkling chimes are slowing. My thoughts are racing. Can music really bring back echoes of the past? I get up and open the curtains and let daylight in. I was told that my mother had died. Could […]
‘Ann, are you listening to yourself? You have a child. There she is. It might be the opportunity of a lifetime, but you can’t just go to America and leave your child.’ ‘But, Mum. This is what I’ve always wanted. You know it is. I haven’t been slogging my guts out on the local paper […]
I’ve got to do this now. I’ve been putting it off in that way people do put off unpleasant things in the hope that they might just go away somehow, but I can’t put it off any longer. Gran’s been gone for weeks. Her voice echoes in my ears as if she still speaks: You […]
She won’t be coming back here again. He sits in his car, parked outside her house, thinking; remembering. The weight of years bows his shoulders. A snapshot of a memory appears behind his closed eyes. She is sitting at the dining table in the front room, the one just beyond those windows he now opens […]
From then on, we met most Saturdays, Laura and I. For a long time it was just casual. Obviously, she was aware that you had recently died, but we didn’t talk about that. We never talked about anything important. I was stumbling through the days. She was separate from all that grief. I know it […]
It wasn’t long after that when I saw Laura again. She was in Costa, the one in town. She was on her own, a pot of tea in front of her. It was a Saturday just after Christmas, the place was packed and the only available seat was at her table. I could have avoided […]
The next time I saw Laura was at a parents’ evening at Jenny’s school; the one we talked about, the one you prepared me for. It was the first time I had been to the school without you. The corridors and the bright lights made me think of the hospital; all through that dark autumn, […]
It was autumn when I first met Laura. I didn’t tell you about it at the time. At the time it wasn’t important. Life was falling apart around me. As usual it had been a long day at the surgery. Getting through sixty patients a day is no joke. After work I’d gone for a […]
I know that 2021 hasn’t been a great year for a lot of people. For me, at least since June, it’s probably been the least stressful period of time I’ve had in over a decade, so I’m very thankful for what feels like a new season in my life. Here’s the list: I’m always thankful […]
Precious Stones 