Typecast

Editors note:  This is the story of "Deerbaby" - the second in a series that I have called " Cancer - Your Story ".  If you are interested in sharing your story please click on the link and  contact me . Related Links : Deerbaby  (Blog) Deerbaby  (Twitter) All " Cancer - Your Story " posts Cancer Research UK -  http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/ Photo credit: D Sharon Pruitt -  Pink Sherbert Photography * * * There is no headstone. She is buried under a silver birch tree.   My sister, elder by three years, died from leukaemia. I was nine. My own son is now just slightly older I was when she died. He seems so small. Nothing bad has ever happened to him. What will he be able to remember of his life today as I can of that time? Sometimes it seems like yesterday my mother sat me down and told me. Sometimes it feels so long ago, as if it happened to someone else, or in a story. I remember the wheelchair. I remember the ghastly brown wig whose ti...

brr... brr... brr... brr... brr Bel stretched out her left arm and clicked the snooze button on the alarm clock.  The morning sun brightened the room as it shone against the beige cotton curtains.   She opened one eye and squinted at the digital display on the alarm clock. 06:40: she had 10 more minutes until the alarm rang again and she intended not to rise from the bed until the last possible second but already her mind was whirring with the list of tasks to be accomplished that day. --- brr... brr... brr... brr... brr Joe heard her alarm clock bleeping away and felt the slight movement the bed as she stretched out her arm to hit the snooze button.  Why did she do that?  He knew that she was awake – her breathing was different.  What was she thinking as she lay there?  He felt himself drift... slowly... back... to... sleep... --- brr... brr... brr... brr... brr She turned in bed, opened both her eyes and looked at the digital display again althou...

These Are The Days Of Our Lives (music and words by Queen) Sometimes I get the feelin' I was back in the old days - long ago When we were kids when we were young Things seemed so perfect - you know The days were endless we were crazy we were young The sun was always shinin' - we just lived for fun Sometimes it seems like lately - I just don't know The rest of my life's been just a show Those were the days of our lives The bad things in life were so few Those days are all gone now but one thing is true When I look and I find I still love you You can't turn back the clock you can't turn back the tide Ain't that a shame I'd like to go back one time on a roller coaster ride When life was just a game No use in sitting and thinkin' on what you did When you can lay back and enjoy it through your kids Sometimes it seems like lately - I just don't know Better sit back and go with the flow Cos these are the days of our lives They've flown in the s...

I want to know three things about you that you have never mentioned on your blog or that you have never mentioned to other bloggers.  You may be as cryptic or as daft or as open as you like.  Please leave your "three things" in the comments section below. I shall start with: My grandfather   was a prisoner-of-war during WW2 and met my grandmother whilst in the camp (she was working there).  When he was sent back to Germany after the war he kept in contact as best he could and returned to marry her in 1948. I used to regularly apply to appear on quiz shows - nothing ever came of it although I did have two auditions for the first series of 'In It To Win It'. I have had my adenoids removed but not my tonsils. Over to you...

I have been handed the 'grumpy baton' by Becky over at Single Mummy and I honestly have no idea why probably because I am the female version of Victor Meldrew.  I don't court grumpiness, but these things just happen to me.  I have had to wait until I was in a suitable mood to write seven things that make me grumpy so these are mainly from last week: 1.  (work related)  I send an email, you read it.  You click reply WHILST AT YOUR COMPUTER, you respond.  Job done.  WHY does it take another three emails and the threat of the cancellation of the seminar before you confirm your attendance?  (multiply this by 67 delegates) 2.  Liz Jones of the Daily Mail - yes I know this is ironic that I'm being grumpy about someone who has a newspaper column called " Liz Jones Moans " but, for crying out loud, that woman writes complete and utter drivel and managed to contradict herself in her own article last week - she first wrote about how sh...

She came, crept into our lives And destroyed us. She took our trust, screwed it up  And threw it away. He was no better... He let it all happen And now we have to pretend it's all OK Because the person who was torn in two Is no longer with us. She will never be to me what she wants to be, Not after what she did. Each time I look at him I see the guilt in his eyes, But I no longer care Now I know the truth about the past. He knows what he has lost... Me. Edited to add :  I've decided to submit this poem to the Writing Workshop that is   run by Josie at  Sleep Is For The Weak .   This week was  Workshop #21  and I used prompt #2 - A moment of realisation where you knew something had to change.  I was going to explain what it's about but even now, there are still some things better left unsaid.   You can find all the other Workshop posts  >>> here <<<

I make no secret of the fact that I love music so when Garry from Blog Up North tagged me in a "Songs That Make You Cry" meme , my immediate thoughts were that it was going to be easy.  Not so.  I'll freely admit that the following songs don't actually make me sob buckets but they do tug at the emotional heartstrings for one reason or another. The theme tune from the film " Somewhere in Time " (1980) ( Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Op. 43, Variation XVIII for the pedantic amongst us) I purposefully haven't linked to the film on YouTube in case anyone hasn't seen it and wants to.  It's a film about a playwright who is given a gift of a pocket watch by an old lady who says to him "Come back to me, Richard".  A story of unexpected love and time travel ensues with surprising outcomes.  It's one of my favourite films and the music is part of the 'hook' of the film.  Haunting and fitting. This version of Stand...

I had to attend a meeting last night.  I would be out for approximately three hours. Son #2 :  What will I eat in all the time that you're out? ( note the guilt-laden statement ) Me :  Didn't you just have tea 20 minutes ago? Son #2 :  Yeah, but, I'm always hungry, aren't I? I have a feeling that all the media panic surrounding  the recent volcano eruption and the many people stranded has taken effect slightly closer to home.  He was duly despatched to the corner shop for a loaf of bread just in case .  He knows how to survive on beans on toast, egg on toast, scrambled egg on toast, toast, jam butties...

Son #1 :  Jack Staw is in the next street, knocking on doors, Mum. Me :  Really...? (I was only half listening) * * * 5 minutes later * * * *knock knock* Member of the Labour Party :  Good evening ( blah blah blah )... can we rely on your vote in the election? I shall not bore you with the details of our conversation but it involved me explaining that if Mr Straw couldn't be arsed canvassing himself then I would be keeping my voting preferences to myself. * * * 2 minutes later * * * Me :  Kev, did Jack Straw just walk past our window? Kev :  Dunno... erm... it looked a bit like him... I opened the front door to see Mr Straw stood on the corner of our street.  I waved him over and proceeded to have a lovely chat with him about his involvement in the local area (he is a very prolific M.P., often at his office and has only missed one surgery session).  After about 10-15 minutes we were winding up our conversation and I said "No-one outside of Blac...