ONE of my sons moved out this week. It’s his time to be king of his own castle and he’s excited about it, as you are with your own place, no mother to be on your back nagging. Hard for me as it happened on my mum’s birthday so Kleenex shares will have upped this week (buy now, buy big) in the same week as Mother’s Day.

Never was there ever a mix of emotions like it swirling around me, punching me in the ovaries. There I am walking around Tesco buying a bag of stuff for him sobbing into my specs. Happy for him, sad for me, end of a long era.

Change can be so hard. We raise kids to let them go, the more we love them, the thicker the apron strings and cutting them is like cutting an umbilical cord all over again, but this time with no morphine around to dull the pain.

C’est la vie, this is the way it has to be. This motherhood lark really is a proper git at times.

I went to see John Cooper Clarke this week, yet again and I don’t care if every time I see him he performs the same stuff (he didn’t). Hard to digest that in not so long ago times poetry was dished out as a punishment by some teachers (who had no right to be in the

profession).

Dr Clarke gives one of his main influences as Pam Ayres, as he is one of mine. Sometimes

feelings sit so much better in the frame of poetry than they do in prose and I love to let

that side of me out.

I have quite a body of work now and performing it is a deep joy. I would have loved to have been up on that stage with him. One of the supports acts was a poet from Dublin called Jane Brierton who had never written a word of poetry before Covid when she was inspired to write a poem about becoming a cook, cleaner, teacher to her kids etc during that time which must not be spoken about. As she said from the stage – that was in 2020 and five years later she’s appearing in sell-out theatres, including the London Palladium with JCC.

Never too late to realise your dreams is it, folks? Never too late. I wonder how many people heard her say that and it galvanised them into action.

Did you miss the directive about the green bins not being collected until April as I did, hopefully leaving it out in mid-March only to drag it back in again. I see lots of people have still left them out around Dodworth Road, so pull it back in folks until April’s collection is due. Greater love hath no man than the lay down his life for his friend – or maybe that should be, than a wife to risk her life for her husband. I had a bit of a weep last week reading about

Emma Hodgson who donated her kidney to her husband Kieron whose own kidneys were

failing.

I hope and pray that they will now be able to plan, look forward, live a long and healthy life together through her sacrifice and bravery. All my best to you both.

Don’t forget I will be at the Book Vault on Market Street, Saturday 29th 10am-12 for last minute Mother’s Day book sales. Do come along if you need a book signing for her. I wish I still had mine around to do something nice for.