A room of one’s own
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Swimming to be
…more than somebody who walks like they’re permanently on a wobble-board. Somebody who, all of a sudden, sheds the image of mild disability to become like anybody else. I can speak of the lengths I have done, and not the length of naps I’ve had or how hard I’ve found the day. Nobody knows, in…
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Walking the walls
He had lived here for 60 years now. It was his main task to ring the bell for prayer, meals and sleeping times. He had to use a stick to get to the tower now, but he was determined to always be that person, to be of some use. At the beginning of his time…
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The brothers grim
You might have been laughing, or chatting loudly, as you approached the open door in the yellow house, but once you crossed the threshold, all noise and cheer were instantly snuffed out. The shop itself was crammed full of happy things, like ice lollies, crisps and sweets, but you selected and paid for them in…
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‘You’ll not know yourself’
I’ve lost count of the number of people who’ve said that to me recently. Nearly every time I’ve said told them Ciara’s going to pre-school. But I’m wondering, what does it mean? Am I going to leave my ordinary self behind somewhere for 3 hours, then pick it up again when I collect my daughter? …
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He is a rock
There was this boy at school who once brought in a song that he said defined him – Paul Simon’s “I am a rock, I am an island.” He kept himself apart, so no-one could ever laugh at him, or make him feel foolish. It worked for about five years, until this girl came along…
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Loaf for one
He was in Tesco’s again today. Buying his usual: one tiny loaf, one small pack of cooked ham, and a single apple. He could buy something that would last him longer, but these days, he welcomes the routine. He likes being around people at least once in the otherwise too quiet day, spent in the…
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Pat feels he’s…
…not a very happy man. He’s been doing this job: getting up at 4.30am, sorting letters, and then trailing around delivering them, for forty long years. There was a time when he thought a lot about doing something else, but then it had become too late. Too late to fill out application forms, go back…
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The first holiday
He’d never been on a holiday before, which is funny, seeing as he lives in a caravan. They moved about a lot, so nowhere was officially ‘home’, except for the two-roomed mobile house they always slept and ate in. His mum and dad were good at some particular things, and they tried to make a…
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The shopkeepers
In this basically adult-free world that I inhabit, for most of the day, I have become more aware of the grown-ups I do meet. I’m afraid to say, approximately 90% of them are shop-assistants. I don’t think any of them, apart from my beautician, know me by name, but they definitely know my face -they…
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Two companions
Since they were born, I have devoted most of my life to them. At the beginning, it was definitely a one-sided thing, and I foolishly wished it over. But after the first while of simply giving, feeding, getting up repeatedly through the night, kneeling down time after time to change nappies, it started to change. …
Ruth Writes 