Well, I know someone other than me reads these musings because the first thing the Mayor of Tamworth asked me when we met last Thursday evening was whether I’d managed to find a pair of posh shoes.
Of course, I did and you can see me wearing them as I collected my “Be Tamworth’ badge, thanks to a series of photographs which are on the Mayor’s Facebook page and Twitter feed.
It was a wonderful occasion and as I’m sure always happens at these events, I came away feeling that all the other recipients were far more deserving of recognition than me. They included my old Tamworth Herald colleague Paul Barber, who has been photographing Tamworth for over 35 years, James Brown of Gold Standard Security, a tireless worker for young people and Ellie Fielding, co-ordinator of Tamworth Breastfeeding Support, among plenty of others and all those who have received awards since the scheme began last June.
This post was going to be exclusively about last Thursday’s event until something far more important came to my attention. I’ve made a lot of new friends in the strokie community since December 16 2013 and one of the best is the magnificently-named Paula Minx Andersen. Paula cares for her husband Henning, whose stroke seems to have been far more debilitating than mine. She seems to be constantly on the go (as most carers are, of course) but always seems to have that essential ‘glass half-full’ attitude to life. She has recently been snowed under, not just with caring for Henning but also for two ailing and elderly parents.
All that would seem enough to challenge anyone but over last weekend, she brought to my attention a new blog written by her daughter. Natalie Hunter is a young mother with four children, including 19-month-old twin boys. In the last few days, Natalie has found out that she has bladder cancer. Tomorrow (Thursday May 28), she starts chemotherapy.
She could curl up in a ball and quit on life. Instead, she is writing a blog called Cancer, Me and Them which can be found at thathunterwoman.blogspot.com. Unsurprisingly, it’s a gruelling read but I’d urge you all to take a look and support Nat. She’s doing it, as she said to me, because if it helps one person who is going through what she’s going through, then it is worth it. Which is exactly the reasoning behind my own blog.
I’ve ‘chatted’ this week with plenty of strokies who I feel are worse off than me. And that was before I’d heard of Natalie. Have a read of her blog; think of her and her four young children when you swear at the train manager because the 5.39 is ten minutes late. Adopt that ‘glass half-full’ approach to life. Be thankful you got up this morning and everything was working normally.
Honestly, it’s the only approach to life.
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