Her handkerchief smells comforting. Her soapy neck smells the same. She is wiping my tears and snot first. Next, with a scrunched-up face, she pulls the of dog poo off and undresses me. She doesn’t like what I’m wearing. They are called “hippy rags!” And they are in an “awful colour.” She tells me that [...]

Whilst I am naturally resourceful, and it is a positive aspect of being a survivor - I cannot bake a cake without the ingredients. Even a recipe that doesn’t need cooking, requires the basic components, to create a meal. Similarly, when our heart yearns to heal, and even if we consider ourselves to be on [...]

Acclimatizing to my newly - found emotional freedom, is akin to observing wild horses bound freely in a forest. It is a fantastic feeling: being alert and charged, and my energy is in abundance. I want to meet and greet every single filly and pony, coax them with a juicy apple or carrot, show them [...]

As a child, I could make a vegetable soup, and eat it in less than half an hour. It made a pleasant change from microwaved fishfingers, or tuna pasta salad, which I can still make speedily.  Mother did not bother cooking once I had reached the grand age of eleven, and on the rare occasion [...]