or… WRONG DIAGNOSIS Dear Doctor, `You should not have told your daughter,` you said. `She’s best out of it,` you said. Well done. Do you realise what you caused? What you were saying? I came to you because of marital problems. Even concerned for the husband who was causing so much misery. `Is it […]
Lunch for the Needy
I am at the church which I sometimes attend, mostly for their social events such as a Harvest Suppermeal or one of their discussion groups and courses. These meals, For the Homeless, are run by a local charity, and churches in the area take their turn to be host, about twice a year. It works […]
How I Came To Write ‘Reasons’
How I came to write the title story of my collection of short stories, Reasons. While studying for my Masters Degree in Creative Writing, I was fortunate to have Paul Bailey, novelist and critic, as my tutor for one option. The assignment was to write a 500 word story and I was unsure how to […]
Show Business
When she discovered that she was, unusually, not going to be with her children for Christmas Day last year, my friend decided she would offer her time to our YMCA, to serve Christmas Day lunch to the homeless and the lonely. Although her children were either abroad or needed more by younger in-laws, she was not […]
Seven Ages of Man
I recently stayed in a holiday resort where there were a lot of retired fire fighters, many of them having been injured on the job, some permanently. I got talking to groups of them and some got up from the table where we had been eating and talking, stiffly, and with difficulty, clearly in pain. […]