Thorns of a Rose

Let me introduce you to Sharon Rose.  We knew each other nearly two decades ago when I was an office worker at Tamworth Health Centre doing lots of administration jobs for all the Community Nurses, Health Visitors and School Nurses of the town.  I loved that job.  I was there for 9 years, which was a long time for me as I liked to move jobs frequently.  Every home visit by the Health Visitors and Nurses had to be documented so the ladies (and one chap) would religiously fill in forms detailing by codes what they had done each day.  One of my jobs was to input this data onto computer.  It was mind numbing but my colleague and I were very proficient at it.  Another part of my job was to order uniforms for the nurses - green dresses for auxiliaries, light blue for registered nurses, dark blue for sisters.  I loved it when, after I had ordered these the nurses came to fetch them.  We would chat and perhaps have a cuppa and laugh.  Sharon worked at the Albert Road Surgery in town.  There were several other GP practises in and around THC as I affectionately called my place of work.

Life took me to pastures new and I lost touch with all those lovely people.  Then, recently at a Tamworth Literary Festival event, a voice attracted my attention, "Don't I know you?" and we reconnected.  Two days later we met again. This time I knew it was Fate that had bought us together for another season.  Sharon gave me her books to read and this blog is a short review of those books. 

 

You see after I read them I thought Sharon had written about her life in these books, not only as a therapeutic process for herself, but to share with others and to help others with the Thorns of Life.

When we have a bunch of roses, we tend to stare at the flower as a thing of beauty, which it is.  Its colour and petals are a feast for our eyes, its perfume an aroma for our nose, the green stem and leaves remind us that life is renewable in ways we can't comprehend until we are faced with life or/and death situations.   If we look closer, and if we are not careful, we will notice the thorns, which we probably think aren't so attractive but nevertheless they are part and parcel of the lovely flower.

 

 

In her books Sharon has shown her stem, her leaves and foliage, and the thorns that have caused her pain - breast cancer, relationship breakups, family troubles and tragedy.  Despite life's difficulties she shines through the flower that she is as a positive, fun loving, sassy, lively lady.  Each book sold raises money for different charities even though Sharon gave up her precious job of nursing when life went pear shaped.  I can't recommend these books highly enough, especially if you have known grief and loss, if you have cared for a friend or relative with breast cancer or known it yourself, if you have overcome difficult growing up years where mental illness of a parent was an acceptable norm, or have known someone who took their own life - then these little books will be a treasure on your bookshelves.  You wont forget Sharon Rose - she will encourage you, entertain you, make you smile and touch your heart.

 

"Don't just see the person before you as one human being; each person has their own story to tell.  We are all beautiful flowers clothed with layers of life". Sue Flint

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 









Coffee Break & Book

Get yourself a cuppa, pull up a chair, and take a short break.  Enjoy this book review of :

 

With or Without You by Carole Matthews

 

I guess at sometime or other in everyone’s lives we all have something that smacks us in the face – a tragedy, a death, an illness or a relationship breakdown.  Life is full of disappointments as well as pleasures.

 

These times of stark shocks serve to stop us in our tracks, get us out of a rut, make us make a ‘U’ turn or simply examine who we are, what we are doing and where we are going.  The immediacy of being without a choice to change sends us in a spin.  We act according to the ‘fight’ or ‘flight’ affect of the situation.

 

In this book the protagonist does both – she takes flight, runs away from all she has known and wanted and fights for her survival through the shadow of loss, hurt and devastating disappointment.  It is as real as anyone’s account of turning a loss into a gain, overcoming the damned cards dealt her and finding ‘herself’ amidst a group of strangers.

 

IVF can take its toll on any couple and Lyssa and Jake are no exception.  It drains them of energy, passion, vigour for their jobs, finances and lust for life outside of the baby-making zone.  They separate – time out seemed the only option to cope with the overwhelming situation of infertility.  Other people enter their lives.  Jake moves in with a female work colleague and Lyssa is befriended by her American tour guide in the mountains of Nepal. 

The scenes of trekking up mountains, smiling children and forest villages is very lively and colourful.  One cannot fail to 'be there' in the story.

 

After Lyssa's holiday the word CHANGE figures out of her CHAlleNGE and eventually she follows her heart.  The ending is magical, uplifting and if you are a sentimentalist like me, a real tear jerker.

 

Well done Carole Matthews on yet another fabulous novel.  Five Star Recommendation.

Disabled or Extra-Ordinarily Abled?

Life Through the Eye of a Crutch

If you were presented with two crutches to aid your every day walking I wonder how you would feel?  To be told you will never walk again unaided must be devastating news.  Michelle had this news in October 2015 due to an operation that went wrong.  Her journey of accepting this unexpected sequence of events has included coming to terms with the mobility aids that keep her upright and moving. 

Try to imagine making yourself a cuppa in the kitchen and, with two crutches, trying to carry it through to the lounge.  Or pushing a shopping trolley, getting in and out of the car, negotiating steps/stairs, opening a heavy door etc.  Tricky, to say the least.

Sitting overlooking the sea at Brighthlingsea in 2015, Michelle was thinking of what she had been through and how life would never be the same again.  I thought, “Life has taken on a different perspective now” and holding one of her crutches, took this photo.  “It was a symbolic moment for me as I was trying to come to terms with what had happened”.  She then posted the photograph on Twitter with the hash tag #LifeThroughACrutchLens. 

Following this Tweet, in June 2016, she posted:
 

“Just had an email to say my #LifeThroughACrutchLens pic has been chosen to be entered into a B&W masterpiece contest 📸 https://t.co/mN0iwSwMhw”

 

Wow, what a boost that must have been! 

 

And so the journey of #LifeThroughACrutchLens began.  If you are on Twitter you can search the hash tag and find all Michelle’s wonderful imaginative photos. 

“It's a bit of creative fun, something different, another way of expressing myself and when

the feeling grabs me I’ll take a snap!  I’ve always liked taking photos but it wasn’t until my life changed completely that I’ve started taking more.  I was distraught at the things I could no longer participate in, especially yoga and the feeling the yoga mat gave me, so I started to think how could I recreate that feeling of the yoga mat and ‘just being’ in the moment?  I realised I could still take photos, and making it a ‘mindful’ activity would allow me to ‘be in the moment’ and express myself at the same time.”

Michelle then went on to help others by creating a one-off hash tag chat hour on Twitter for crutch users which was really popular.  “From that GlamSticks™ came into my life,” Michelle tells me, “it’s been a really important part of my journey and led me to where I am now (she models for GlamSticks™).  Who would have thought so much could come from a photo!”

 

Sparkler Sticks

Kate Middletoe Sock -Michelle brought these fun socks
 on the day her leg brace was fitted as a reminder to
Keep Smiling.

Son clicks a picture of Mum

In December 2016 she was fitted with a leg brace which has brought about more challenges.  But even when Michelle is in pain and has to lie on the floor to get relief her faithful friends become a tool to see life from a different angle and appreciate things she may not have noticed or took for granted before.

How beautiful the ceiling light is!

 
You can read about the equally creative way Sharon from GlamSticks™ used her disability to share her passion for brightening up dull grey crutches on my next Blog (scroll down).

Also in the next Blog you can read how owning a pair of sparkly crutches gave Michelle a boost in confidence and raised her self esteem.  So much so she tells me, “that I even wear a skirt now.” 

Who says “You can’t?”  #ThisGirlCan   and does.  A positive outlook on life, a bit of fun and lots of resting time to be still in a rushing mad world can take you places you least expect. 

 

If you have enjoyed this blog and know someone who needs mobility aids to get about, do share this with others, you never know you may just start them off on a new journey of their own.  Do leave a comment below.  Thank you.