Tag: Clive

Kindness

November 11, 2014

My mother once wrote, during a discussion about relationships and my marriage, “It’s a huge boon to have something like “kindness” in a relationship. You have that between you; it is valuable, and not soooo common.” My sister Elin recently shared an article by Emily Esfahani Smith entitled ‘Science Says Lasting Relationships Come Down To … More Kindness

A Year Has Passed…

June 18, 2012

The excitement and anticipation of climbing onto an aeroplane for a weekend of new experiences with an old friend has its own unique thrill. Here, in the space between leaving and arriving, I find a moment of calm in which to begin to piece together the past few weeks. The anniversary of my mother’s death … More A Year Has Passed…

On love, and sharing

January 21, 2012

I lay in the warm glow of my husband Clive’s arms last night, where I feel most alive in every delightful cell of my body. It seems to draw electric energy from his fingertips. Being home, and being healthy (following a successful procedure to plug the hole in my leaking spine), both seem like luxurious … More On love, and sharing

A Letter

November 20, 2011

Hi mom, I haven’t written to you since you died, and it suddenly seemed like an important thing to do. I spend time with you in dreams, I think and talk about you all the time, but I don’t talk to you anymore. I don’t have any idea what I want to say, I just … More A Letter

Expressing Pain

November 3, 2011

My post on Halloween prompted the following response from a fellow blogger, WritingMS: “Why are we humans so compelled to claim the goodness of our lives, in order to try and justify our expression of sorrow or pain? I think it must be our western culture and our adherence to the ‘stiff upper lip” approach. … More Expressing Pain

Captured Conversations

August 3, 2011

I stumbled across this Skype conversation with my mother from quite a number of years ago, which I had emailed to myself to keep safe, and subsequently forgotten I still had (though I remembered the conversation itself well). I grasp at all these memories, wanting to remember her voice, her smell, and her writing, and … More Captured Conversations

Sporting Adventures

July 30, 2011

This morning, my husband Clive and I took our two boys paddling at Danson Lake in Bexleyheath. Tristan (who will turn four in September) sat in the front of a Rocket Junior K2 to try out his new paddles from his Nanny and Gubby, and I sat behind him, watching Rhys on Clive’s lap and pondering … More Sporting Adventures