The Musings of a Thirty-Something Lady

Yesterday, Kate, one of my best friends, got married. It was a beautiful wedding, the weather was perfect, and I have never seen two people look more happy, or more perfect for each other. I grew up on a staple diet of Disney, of believing in "True Love", of being rescued, of people being "meant to be". The years have gone on, and the older (and more like Bridget Jones) I have become, I have, on occasion, lost the belief in True Love. Seeing Kate and Matt get married yesterday reaffirmed my belief - I could not imagine there being two people that were more meant to be - and Kate looked straight out of a fairy tale. The sense of pride I felt when I saw Kate walk down the aisle was overwhelming, and I didn't expect it. It truly was like there was nobody else in the world except those two - that we were just looking in. Nothing else mattered in that moment. I have known Kate (and Matt) since University. Kate is one of the warmest, kindest people I know. She i...

Queen once sang "Only the good die young... they're only flying too close to the Sun", and another day starts with the news of another great who flew too close. This time, Robin Williams, aged only 63 has been lost to an apparent suicide.  I was a child of the 90's. Movies like Mrs Doubtfire, Hook, Jumanji, and Aladdin were staples, and Robin Williams shone like the star he was. He was able to make you roar with laughter, then dissolve into tears within minutes of each other. His characters were larger than life, but with even larger hearts. His accolades were many, receiving an Academy Award for Good Will Hunting, as well as 3 Academy Awards Nominations for Best Actor, winning 2 Emmys, 2 Screen Actor Guild Awards, 4 Golden Globes, and 5 Grammy Awards. His  comedy acts were also works of art - often rude, bizarre, outlandish, but above all else, absolutely hilarious.  It is a sad fact that Robin Williams had his well documented demons. Only a few weeks ago I read ...

I had been looking forward to the 1 st September 2012 for a long, long time. I vividly remember almost bouncing in my seat on the train in anticipation on the way… willing it to get to the Olympic Park as fast as possible so I could watch an evening session at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. It was a beautiful, hot day, and the atmosphere was buzzing. I was looking forward to the whole evening, however there was only one race I had been dreaming about: watching Oscar Pistorius run the 200 meters. It was only a heat, but that didn’t matter to me. Oscar was my idol. It’s probably time for a bit of back story. I was born with Amniotic Band Syndrome (ABS), a condition which means that amniotic bands wrap around the foetus in-utero. This can lead to amputation of digits & limbs, and can lead to miscarriage and stillbirth depending where the bands are. I was relatively “lucky” in that it only affected my fingers and toes, so my actual life is very normal, bar not being able to we...